Vaginal Health Protocols
Vaginal Health Protocols
The Vaginal Microbiome
The bacteria in your body are called your microbiome. This is a living community of organisms that are always in a state of change based on what you eat, how you sleep, your stress levels, and is even influenced by your genetics to some degree. Each microbiome is different in various areas of the body, including the mouth, the breast, the gut, the groin, and the vagina. Your microbiome is absolutely necessary to your health and survival, and it's estimated that up to 80% of your immune system is actually located in your gut. Maintaining a healthy microbiome is important for your overall health and fertility, including the health of your pregnancies. There are about ~250 known species of bacteria in the vaginal microbiome, but are most heavily dominated by a variety of Lactobacilli species. The vaginal microbiome even changes slightly through the different phases of the menstrual cycle, and as different cervical fluid is released. Every microbiome stays healthy through constant changes by remaining highly diverse and balanced.
One of the many benefits of the vaginal microbiome is to protect you from the overgrowth of harmful and uncomfortable yeast and bacteria. If your vaginal bacteria are hindered, or fail to keep these bad bacteria at bay, then this allows them to proliferate, throwing off the balance in your body and resulting in yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis. It's also possible for a yeast infection, having already compromised your microbiome, to cause a bad bacterial overgrowth, resulting in both bacterial vaginosis and a yeast infection at the same time. Ultimately what you need to know here is that both of these conditions are best described as an “ecological disorder of the vaginal microbiome.”
The best way to treat yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis is to participate in preventative measures which maintain a healthy gut microbiome. I call these preventative health protocols. If you have an acute infection, see the protocols down below.
Preventative Health Protocols
Eat Foods With Probiotics Daily - Kefir, yogurt, aged cheese, raw sauerkraut, kimchi, raw lacto-fermented vegetables (like pickles), raw apple cider vinegar, fermented beverages (water kefir or kombucha), miso, and natto. A tablespoon of sauerkraut juice contains a whopping 1.5 trillion CFU (which refers to the number of bacterial cells otherwise known as “colony forming units”). Kefir contains equally high concentrations of probiotics (more than yogurt).
Eat Fiber Filled Prebiotics - Fiber-rich foods like vegetables, nuts, seeds, coconut, legumes, and high-fiber fruits (like berries). This includes slightly unripe bananas (those that are still a bit green), legumes, cashews, and potatoes that have been cooked and cooled (like you’d have in potato salad). Be careful with your fiber intake if you currently have gut or autoimmune issues.
Limit Added Sugars and Refined Carbohydrates - this fosters the growth of healthy bacteria rather than harmful ones. This not only supports healthy digestion, but helps prevent bacterial vaginosis and yeast infections.
Avoid Pharmaceuticals like Hormonal Birth Control, Antidepressants, and Antibiotics - These substances wipe out your gut microbiome, which has widespread implications for your vaginal microbiome health. It's been proven that birth control reduces the diversity of your microbiome, and antibiotics, though they kill bad bacteria, they kill your probiotic bacteria as well. Prolonged use of antidepressants can also reduce microbiome diversity. My own experience on the pill left me with chronic UTI's.
Avoid IUDs - The copper IUD doubles the risk of bacterial vaginosis. If you are having BV, yeast infections, or UTI's chronically, consider removing any kind of IUD for 3-6 months to see if the problem subsides.
Take a Probiotic - Ideally with 30 billion CFUs of bacteria per serving. That might sound like a lot, but keep in mind you have over 100 trillion bacterial cells in your body, so “1 billion CFU per serving,” it’s not all that much. Good quality probiotic supplements will list the individual strains and the quantities of each strain on the label. Look for one that contains both Lactobacilllus and Bifidus strains.
Sexual Activity and the Microbiome
Humans are communal creatures, and we like having sex. This means that we don't just have our own individual microbiomes, we share our microbiomes with our sexual partners. Your partner's groin area and genitals have their own microbiome, and this can affect your sexual health as well as the health of a pregnancy. Besides STI/D's, you could experience chronic vaginal microbiome issues from your partner. They have a responsibility in your sexual relationship to care for their gut microbiome, and overall health and fertility. This can make a huge difference and is part of choosing a partner wisely and safely to maximize everyone's pleasure and enjoyment. Keeping both your microbiomes healthy now is important to the birthing process should you want to conceive in the future, where the baby moves from the sterile environment of the placenta to the microbiome of the birth canal, and then the microbiome of the breast after birth! It's an amazing process.