7 Foods that Help Protect Your Intimate Area
Taking care of your feminine hygiene goes beyond using special soaps. It also involves more than having a strict daily hygiene routine. These aspects are important to protect your intimate area. However, it’s vital to keep in mind that there are other habits that influence your health.
For instance, regularly eating certain foods helps protect your vaginal flora. As a result, they are perfect for reducing the risk of infection.
These foods contain probiotics, antioxidants, and other kinds of nutrients. By strengthening your defenses, they help to keep this area protected from harmful microorganisms that can cause diseases.
In the following article, we want to share the 7 best ones in detail. This way, you can consider adding them to your regular diet.
Take a look at them!
1. Natural yogurt
Natural yogurt is a natural source of probiotics or healthy bacteria. These help to keep your feminine area’s pH balanced.
Eating it and applying it externally helps to prevent yeast infections. This is because yogurt attacks and inhibits the growth of the yeast.
Suggestions
- Eat a cup of natural yogurt on a daily basis to prevent vaginal infections.
- If you have an infection, rub a little natural yogurt on the external parts of your vagina.
2. Probiotic foods
Yogurt is the most popular probiotic. But, we should mention that there are other healthy options that help to protect your vaginal area.
Fermented foods that are rich in live cultures protect the microbe flora in your vagina. They also reduce the risk of bacterial and yeast infections.
The most recommended ones are:
- Kimchi
- Miso
- Keifer
- Kombucha
Suggestions
- Eat sources of probiotics at least two times per week.
- If you have an infection, add probiotics to your diet to speed up your healing.
3. Garlic
Garlic is a food with antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties. When you eat it on a regular basis, garlic reduces the risk of suffering from a wide range of infections.
It’s known in alternative medicine as a base for natural remedies. Also, it’s an ingredient that helps feminine health in many ways.
Garlic’s antifungal compounds control and prevent infections caused by bacteria and yeast. At the same time, its probiotic effects feed the microbial flora in the area.
Suggestions
- Eat a clove of garlic for breakfast.
- To control vaginal infections, make a garlic tea and wash the external areas.
4. Apple cider vinegar
The natural acids in apple cider vinegar have been used since antiquity. And, this vinegar has been used as one of the treatments for regulating the vagina’s pH level.
These compounds, besides the healthy bacteria, prevent the negative effects of yeast and calm the symptoms like itching and redness.
Suggestions
- Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to warm water and drink it for breakfast.
- Dilute vinegar in your bath water and wash your feminine area externally to attack the microorganisms.
5. Cranberry juice
Cranberry juice is rich in antioxidants and fiber. This makes it a healthy drink that helps protect your vaginal area and urinary system.
Its diuretic properties increase the production of urine. These properties also reduce the presence of bacteria in your urinary tracts and vagina.
This juice has natural acids that help to regulate the pH of the vaginal area. This reduces the presence of infectious microorganisms.
Suggestions
- Drink a glass of cranberry juice before the first symptom of vaginal or urinary infections.
- Drink it at least three times per week as a preventative measure.
- Avoid drinking commercially produced products. They have added sugars that affect their properties.
6. Almonds
Almonds and other kinds of nuts are perfect for preventing vaginal dryness.
They have vitamin E. This is a nutrient that helps stimulate the area’s natural lubrication. This makes it easier to balance estrogen levels. Almonds also give you essential fatty acids. These acids are recommended to prevent problems related to inflammation.
Suggestion
- Drink almond milk at least three times per week.
- Eat a handful of almonds when you feel hungry.
- Add almonds as an ingredient in your smoothies and salads.
7. Avocado
Avocado is a fruit with many health benefits for the vaginal area. It has fatty acids and vitamin E. These help to prevent dryness.
Its vitamin B6 and potassium content also help to protect your vaginal walls. This keeps them from getting weak.
Suggestions
- Eat a piece of avocado per day.
- Add avocado to your smoothies, salads, and soups.
How often do you eat these foods? Now that you know how good they are for your feminine area, try to add them to your diet. See for yourself how beneficial they are.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
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- Adetumbi, M. A., & Lau, B. H. S. (1983). Alliumsativum (garlic) – A natural antibiotic. Medical Hypotheses, 12(3), 227–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-9877(83)90040-3
- Vattem, D. A., Ghaedian, R., & Shetty, K. (2005). Enhancing health benefits of berries through phenolic antioxidant enrichment: Focus on cranberry. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
- Zou, H., & Li, G. (2010, September 20). Diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of catheter-associated urinary tract infection in adults: 2009 international clinical practice guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Chinese Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy.
- Kontiokari, T., Nuutinen, M., & Uhari, M. (2004, April). Dietary factors affecting susceptibility to urinary tract infection. Pediatric Nephrology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-003-1410-z
