The #1 Food to AVOID for a Healthy Vagina

This Nutrition Bite is for anyone sporting lady parts and having (ensuring!) a healthy “down there”…

Did you know….

Female reproductive systems are home to a complex ecosystem of microscopic bacteria known as the vaginal microbiome. The balance of this system is important, just as it is for your gut. 

Knowing that, it won’t surprise you that what you eat can directly affect your vaginal health, too.  

When this colony of bacteria is strong, it can protect you from urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases and yeast infections. 

When it’s weak, the “bad” organisms and outside factors are more likely to be able to wreak havoc on your poor lady bits. 

But something else of note…

What you eat can also affect your hormones. Which in turn affects your vagina. For example, when estrogen levels drop, your vulva and vaginal tissues tend to thin. 

Which means you’ve got a greater chance of developing those inconvenient and uncomfortable vaginal infections. 

So, what should you eat to maintain vaginal health?

Well, there’s a pretty long list…

But the #1 food to avoid for vaginal health is actually one of the ones most experts agree should be avoided for our overall physical health, as well.

Did you guess it, yet? 

The #1 food to avoid is SUGAR. 

Excess sugar in all forms is bad news for your gut and vaginal microbiome. Refined sugar is added to just about everything these days, from spaghetti sauce to salad dressing – so you can easily go over your daily limit without even enjoying something sweet! 

But you can’t forget things like fructose, the natural occurring sugars in fruits. Drinking a glass of fruit juice is a concentrated blast of fructose even if it’s NOT full of added sugars. 

And don’t get us started on HFCS – High-Fructose Corn Syrups… That’s a topic of a future article! (But beware – it’s in far too many processed foods and drinks.)

Sugar in all forms is a favorite food of those “bad” organisms lurking in your vagina’s microbiome. So, when you eat too much, it’s easy for organisms like candida to overrun the population… and yeast infections can result. 

Similarly, some bacteria feed on others. Once an organism starts to overgrow – often by being given the opportunity to proliferate by having a good food source – that’s when things get out of balance. 

It’s not so much about ‘good’ and ‘bad’, as it is about balance. And sugar can throw your body and hormones WAY out of balance, creating optimal conditions for infections and other common ailments of the va-jay-jay. 

Thus, as with most things, MODERATION is key. A moderate amount of sugars (preferably not refined) is usually okay for most people. 

But there are several MORE foods you should avoid if you want the happiest “down there”, today and every day. 

Discover the full list in our friend Isa Herrera’s digital book, “The Vaginal Dryness Survival Guide – How to Heal Vaginal Dryness, Fragile and Itchy Tissues With Food & Simple Wellness Practices”