5 Foods Your Vagina Wants You to Eat
You are what you eat, so what’s your vagina saying about your food choices? We spoke to Specialist Integrative Medicine Expert Dr Cris Beer (pictured), who shared her expert opinion on how and why women often get vaginal flora imbalances. Spoiler alert: It’s not always to do with sex!
We think a lot about what foods our body needs to function well, what nutrients our brain needs to process correctly, and even what foods we DON’T need to lose weight. But what about what our vagina needs?
When your vaginal flora is unbalanced, due to antibiotics, the Pill, stress or a poor diet, you’ll probably experience irritation and discomfort. Around 10 to 29 per cent of the female population are affected by this at any given time – which means there’s a lot of unhappy vaginas around.[i]
What you eat can make a big difference. A new study has found that millions of previously unknown strains from bacterial groups not only live in the gut, but also the skin, mouth and vagina.
Keeping your ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria in check has never been more important. That’s because a healthy vagina contains a majority of Lactobacilli, a type of ‘good’ bacteria that supports vaginal health. Lactobacilli, a probiotic strain, acts as a type of barrier to help protect pathogenic microorganisms – the bad guys- from establishing their home.
You can get good dose of the Lactobacilli bacteria from a probiotic supplement, and the following foods also contain it. Ideally, take a daily probiotic supplement, and ensure that your diet contains a good helping of the following foods.
Yoghurt
Containing the most amount of lactic acid bacteria (part of the lactobacilli bacteria family), yoghurt is ideal to add to your acai bowl, smoothie or as a snack with berries. Kefir and buttermilk are also dairy heroes.
Fermented Vegetables
Vegetables which have been fermented contain lactobacilli. Choose vegetables like kimchi, sauerkraut and picked vegetables, miso and tempeh. When looking for fermented foods to buy make sure it’s not pasteurised, which kills the bacteria necessary for a healthy vagina.
Cheese
Lactobacillus and bacteria such as streptococcus are used to make sour cream and cheese, which is good news for those who don’t want to give up a cheese-fest. (Beauty Over 40 note – me!!)
Cranberry Juice
You’ve probably heard that cranberry juice is good for helping prevent or treat urinary tract infection, however it is loaded with sugar, which can cause an imbalance of bacteria. Instead, drink concentrated cranberry juice, with the added bonus of it mixing with lots of water to help flush out your system.[ii]
Green Tea
This wonder brew contains catechins. These help to fight urinary tract infections.[iii] Replace one of your cups of tea a day with this, or even better, that sugar-loaded glass of wine.
Thank you Dr Cris – these are great tips. Have you heard about the benefits of these 5 foods before? Do you follow any of them? Let us know in the comments below. We love yoghurt, cheese and kimchi, so three ticks there, but we might have to swap to concentrated cranberry juice, and up our intake of green tea!
Speak to your healthcare practitioner if symptoms persist. Always read the label. Use only as directed. Supplements may only be of assistance if dietary intake is inadequate.
For more information visit https://www.blackmores.com.au/
ABOUT DR CRIS BEER
Dr Cris is an integrative medical doctor, author, corporate speaker, and media doctor. As an expert in integrative medicine Dr Cris specialises not just in treatment of illnesses, but in the attaining of optimum health. She has particular interests in preventative health, lifestyle medicine, hormone health, weight loss, fatigue and sleep problems, digestive issues, as well as women’s health.
Article references:
[i] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1198743X14606017#bib1
