Blog

Kiwi for Canker Sores

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on March 20, 2017

There are a lot of home remedies for canker sores. Those that get them know how annoying and even painful they can be.
People’s Pharmacy in the Wednesday March 15 column of the Chicago Tribune discussed a treatment that might surprise you. A reader wrote in saying that she treats her canker sores with kiwi fruit. She peels and slices a ripe kiwi and holds each slice against the sores for a minute or two before chewing and swallowing it. She states she typically feels relief within an hour. If it persists she repeats the treatment the next day. There is a small study in the Indian Journal of Surgery, December 2015, Supplement 2 that supports the treatment of kiwi for bed sores. Kiwi has also been helpful for healing burns (Surgery, November 2010). Seems like the protein-dissolving enzyme in kiwi fruit, actinidin, can help speed healing.

You might want to give it a try. If it doesn’t work you can still enjoy having some kiwi!

Monica Joyce, MS, RD, LD, CDE