The use of an elimination diet in the treatment of recurrent aphthous ulceration of the oral cavity.

The involvement of components of food in the causation of recurrent aphthous ulceration of the oral mucosa is controversial. To test the proposition, seventeen patients with RAU which had been resistant to other forms of treatment were studied with the aid of a strict elimination diet. Five patients abandoned the difficult diet, and of the remaining twelve there were five patients who had remission of RAU while on the diet. In four of these five patients a particular food was identified which, when eliminated from the normal diet, led to either marked improvement or resolution. The results of this study clearly indicate the participation of food components in the etiology of some cases of RAU .