Benzoic acid & benzoates

[hwhite6]

Hubby has bad mouth ulcers & his consultant said (fairly offhand!) he needs to have a benzoate free diet...
Does anyone have any ideas on this??
Benzoic acid is the starting point & can occur naturally in some foods, but I'm struggling to get a definitive list of foods I need to cut out of his diet.
Benzoates (sodium being the biggest culprit, but also potassium & calcium benzoates) are all preservatives used in processed foods, all man-made, so in theory if it says 'no artificial preservatives' it should be ok.
Problem I've got (not mentioning the consultant) is all the 'food lists' on t'internet seem to be rather old (pre 2007 most of them) and bless 'em, the food industry have cleaned up their act a reasonable amount since & don't use these preservatives that much anymore; so where can I turn now!
I'm phoning the dietician on Monday anyway (more food problems with youngest), so will be asking her about this too, but generally get more "help" if you give them something to 'ok', rather than a 'can I have?' question, iykwim.

Worst things I'll need to cut are fizzy drinks (he knows he drinks too much of these anyway, but his alternative is...), tea (what is in it? Is benzoic acid natural? Is it in the processing, what the alternative?) & cinnamon (& what do I bake loads of ff things for the kids with - cinnamon... What can I use instead! This is the one that bothers me, as it impacts on the kids already limited diets...), oh & all berries - again, a staple food & baking ingredient... :(

I'm now rambling. Any help on what has naturally occurring benzoic acid or benzoates & therefore what to cut out would be much appreciated! Thank you

[itsonlysubterfuge]

My husband gets bad mouth ulcers as well and he normally gets them because of his teeth. His teeth rub against different parts of the inside of his mouth and cause the ulcers. As far as I was aware there isn't really anything that they have actually linked to mouth ulcers. Although sometimes they appear more in people who don't havea balnced diet, like my husbands. He finds that when he gets a mouth ulcer if he takes a multivitamin it helps it fade faster. His dentist and doctor have never mentioned anything about benzoates before.

I know your question was about benzoic acid. Here is a good source of information on benzoic acid. I hope this list can help you. From my brief reading of the information, it seems it is meant to help cure oral problems when you have them, but it is not used a preventative. My advice owuld be have a more strict diet during an outbreak of mouth ulcers, and just be more mindful of them and not so strict when he hasn't got them (assuming it does actually help). I know how hard it can be to watch someone you love suffereing with mouth ulcers, my husband tells me they are very painful.

When my husband gets mouth ulcers he actually uses a benzydamine spray which helps relieve the pain and cure the ulcer. Perhaps your husband could ask about this, assuming he hasn't tried it already? The name is usually Difflam spray.

I hope this information helps and your husband gets some relief soon.

[hwhite6]

Thanks itsonly, I found that list too, but at 2005, it's out of date in places; but I guess the natural foods shouldn't have changed!
I'll certainly tell him about the spray, anything would be worth a shot. He's got oral steroids right now to try & get them under control, and coupled with this diet, it should keep them that way... We shall see... I can "control" his food at home, but its a different thing at work, when the other lads have a tendency for Greggs & McDs!!

[MillyMollyMardy]

Tomatoes have Benzoates in as well which isn't particularly clear from Prof Scully's list.
If it hasn't been mentioned changing toothpaste can help avoiding Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. Sensodyne Proenamel is SLS free and still contains Fluoride.