Does yogurt help canker sores?
Not only is yogurt a good source of calcium, but it also contains Vitamin B and Zinc that are beneficial for your canker sores. Most importantly, yogurt contains live active cultures that contain the friendly bacteria, Lactobacillus. This type of bacteria is important for your gut and oral health. When the growth of this friendly bacteria is disrupted, it can cause non-beneficial bacteria to thrive.
If the cause of your canker sores is due to a disruption of your oral microbiome, then dabbing yogurt will replenish the “friendly” bacteria on the ulcer and may help it heal faster. Eating yogurt regularly may also prevent canker sores for the same reason. Some people find that regularly holding yogurt inside their mouths for a few minutes can significantly decrease their canker sore episodes.
It is important to note that for a few people, the cause of their canker sores could be due to increased oral acidity, and not necessarily an imbalance of good versus bad bacteria. Another cause could be that they have an allergy to cow’s milk proteins. In both cases, yogurt (which is acidic and made from cow’s milk) can make their canker sores worse. This is why it is difficult to find a treatment that uniformly works for everyone, as each person may develop canker sores for different reasons.
As you can see, the answer to whether yogurt helps with canker sores is not so straight forward. You can experiment by monitoring your canker sore episodes when you add or remove yogurt from your diet and take note of your canker sore emergence.
