The Vagina Mystery: What Do You Really Know About it?

It’s strange how even though female sexuality is plastered all over the internet, the vagina itself remains a mystery to men and women alike. For women, taking care of your downstairs region obviously plays a huge role in your sexual health and wellbeing, so why are we so in the dark about it? There are almost too many vagina myths to count, so it’s definitely time to separate the facts from the fictions. Here’s all you need to know about vaginal wellness:

 

1. Kegel exercises aren’t just for orgasms: Although helping to enhance your orgasms is a key benefit to Kegel exercises, they also strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. This can be helpful if you have trouble holding in your urine, stool or gas. ‘You can do these exercises just about anywhere,’ says Dr. Courtney Leigh Barnes, a gynaecologist at the University of Missouri. ‘These exercises can also be used to help with pelvic organ prolapse.’ This is a condition in which your pelvis drops and pushes against your vagina.

 

2. Probiotics could help prevent vaginal infections: The friendly bacteria known as probiotics can help digestion, combat diarrhoea and target gut inflammation. However, research suggests that using probiotics could help you fight against vaginal infections, such as yeast infections. However, Barnes notes, ‘There isn’t enough proof to make a specific recommendation. More research needs to be done to say for sure when, how much, and what types of probiotics are helpful.’ Still, Barnes has had patients who suffered from chronic vaginal infections, and said they felt better after taking probiotics. Although it’s not right for everyone, particularly if you have a lactose intolerance, Barnes says, ‘If I have a patient with recurrent vaginal infections, I will recommend probiotics in the form of fermented goat’s milk.’ To remove problem bacteria, ‘I always tell my patients to avoid douching,’ Barnes comments. ‘Flushing out the vagina with anything that might kill the lactobacilli can result in an overgrowth of other types of problematic bacteria.’ She also advises that you only use soap on the areas of skin that are covered in hair. ‘Water is sufficient for cleaning the non-hair-bearing regions,’ she explains.

 

3. There are discharges women should worry about: Your vagina is self-cleaning, meaning that it’s perfectly normal to experience some discharge. However, according to Barnes, ‘Any vaginal discharge that seems excessive, painful, irritating or foul in odour should be evaluated by a doctor.’ Although you may be embarrasses about this problem, and tempted to diagnose and treat it yourself, Barnes points out, ‘Unfortunately, research has shown that patients aren’t very accurate when it comes to self-diagnosis.’  It may be that you have something as simple as a yeast infection, but ‘other times, the infection can be more complicated, or even a sexually transmitted infection,’ Barnes warns, and you definitely need a doctor to catch this early.

 

4. Sex can keep your vagina healthy — especially after menopause: As a woman, your body goes through multiple hormonal changes. Puberty, childbirth, breastfeeding, the ageing process and menopause all bring about hormonal changes that could lead to vaginal dryness. Barnes explains, ‘Oestrogen helps keep the vagina healthy and lubricated. Once oestrogen levels drop, the vagina can become dry, and sometimes even be a source of pain.’ However, Barnes asserts, ‘Safe vaginal intercourse can help keep the vagina healthy and dilated.’ Using lubricants can help make intercourse more comfortable, and using hormonal therapies in the form of pills, patches, vaginal rings or creams may be an option if you experience extreme dryness and discomfort. Barnes cautions, ‘There are some risks to certain types of hormone therapy, so it’s important for women to discuss them with their doctor before making a decision to use them.’

Categories: Bacteria, barnes, Infections, Kegel Exercises, probiotics, vagina, vagina healthy, vaginal, vaginal infections

Probiotics: Which Ones Are Right For You?

Almost everyone has heard of probiotics. They truly are big news, what with companies advertising constantly about the benefits that they can have for you ‘gut’. It seems that these companies will suggest that probiotics are good for almost every condition in the world – and while it may be true that some can make a difference to your overall healthiness, the kind of constant advertising that is thrown at us can make it very difficult to establish which probiotics might be best for us.

 

Let’s face it – some probiotics are going to be better than others. That’s just the way everything works in life and there’s no reason to think it should be any different with probiotics. Probiotics are not all the same and some can help you in different ways than others, so it’s important to focus on what it is that you want to get out of taking the probiotics rather than just blindly using them in the hope that it will improve your health and wellbeing. It’s this kind of action that can lead to you spending a lot of money on these supposed treatments only to be disheartened and upset when they don’t work and appear to have wasted all your time, effort and cash.

 

Some probiotics are purported to have the ability to boost your immune system, sooth your itching skin and even get rid of an upset stomach. So which ones should you take if you want to do this? There are many stories that you hear of people being worried when they are on antibiotics, because they aren’t getting better or appear to have worsening symptoms. In one case, a woman was prescribed stronger and stronger antibiotics only to encounter more problems that she had to begin with – in trying to fight off her intestinal infection, it appeared the antibiotics had made it worse.

 

However, when she took an over the counter probiotic called Florastor, it was reported to help her return to normal very quickly. Indeed soon she found that she was able to eat normally again and all was well. It’s important to remember, of course, that this is only likely to be true in a very tiny minority of cases and in the vast majority of situations antibiotics are what you need if you are to overcome illnesses. In fact, it’s well known that the large amounts of money that corporations plug into probiotics (most of which do literally nothing at all and cannot possibly benefit your health) would be much better spent researching antibiotics that can heal people.

 

Unfortunately, as antibiotics cannot be sold in the way that probiotics can – in a commercial form – they are not remotely near as profitable, as gullible people will continue to buy probiotics under the misapprehension that it will benefit their health when really there is very little it can do. Rather than thinking that probiotics might be able to help because of packages that said things like ‘active cultures’ or ‘good bacteria’ which essentially is saying nothing but sounding like it might be positive, it’s a much better idea to promote the understanding of rational scientific thought.

 

The reason probiotics can be sold by any company in a supermarket is because their supposed health enhancements and abilities to change your body cannot be proven by science. This suggests that actually, if you want to know which probiotic is right for you, there is a simple answer – none of them. Probiotics are a terrible waste of money and must be ignored by the rational thinking person.

Categories: antibiotics, florastor, health, nbsp, people, probiotics

Get Sumptuous Skin and Lustrous Locks with these Supplements

Man, don’t you wish there was a pill that will magically give you perfect skin and hair? Why does beauty have to always be such a faff? Sadly, there isn’t a tablet that will have you Beyonce-beautiful in two minutes flat (even if you’re Beyonce herself) but there are certain supplements to give your beauty regime a boost (just make sure you check with your GP before you start supplementing, or they could do more harm than good to your beauty wellness!)

 

According to Jessica Wu, MD, Los Angeles-based dermatologist and author of Feed Your Face, fish oil, though it sounds – and tastes – gross, have such excellent anti-inflammatory properties that it can help calm your skin and reduce and prevent breakouts. There’s a hormone that has been associated with oil production and clogged pores, but fish oil works to decrease this hormone. Plus, if you suffer with dry skin or eczema, fish oil can replenish your skin’s moisture. Your stomach absorbs this nutrient better in liquid form, so Wu recommends taking one to two teaspoons 10 minutes before eating breakfast.

 

Every time you have your period, you lose a lot of iron. Not only can this affect your well-being in more serious ways, such as inducing anaemia, but it can also be harmful to your hair. Wu explains, ‘Iron deficiency is one of the most common causes of thinning hair in otherwise healthy women.’ Therefore, she suggests that you eat plenty of iron-rich foods like leafy green vegetables, and/or take an iron supplement or a multivitamin that contains iron. While we’re on your crowning glory, a pro-biotic supplement may be able to save you from that embarrassing, itchy dandruff. Wu notes that some studies have shown these supplements to soothe and balance a scaly scalp.

 

Sun protection is all-important in your beauty regime (even though the allure of gorgeously tanned skin can make you think otherwise). Sun damage – apart from increasing your cancer risk – can age your skin and give it unattractive pigmentation, and so you need to certainly slather on the sun cream! Plus lycopene, whether as a supplement or taken from tomatoes, can help to protect your skin against sun damage. Wu comments, ‘There are lots of studies on how eating tomatoes can help you fight sunburn and sun damage. We think that that may be because tomatoes have a high level of lycopene antioxidant, and you can get lycopene supplements.’

Categories: beauty, beauty regime, fish oil, iron, Lycopene, probiotics, skin, Supplements

An Environment Filled with Toxins: Not the Planet, Your Gut!

In your gut, there are trillions of bacteria that live in your gut but, according to J. E. Williams, OMD, FAAIM, a pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, longevity, and natural health, these bacteria are as damaged as the environment of the planet. Just like we are damaging environmental wellness with the harmful substances we put in the atmosphere, we’re ruining our gut ecology with the toxins we put into our bodies.

 

According to Williams, ‘Over the course of my practice, I’ve seen ever increasing incidences of cancer, autoimmune diseases, thyroid and adrenal glandular conditions, autism, Alzheimer’s and other progressive neurodegenerative diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, mood disorders, and obesity. We blame meat eating, viruses, stress, and weak adrenals. But, clinically, none of these, unless taken to the extreme, hold up as underlying causes. Rather, they appear to be tag-along conditions. Is the gut the missing link?’

 

Williams explains that, in the 90s, wellness experts thought probiotics would be the solution to the gut problem, but this came with certain difficulties. ‘Laboratories had a hard time keeping bacteria alive,’ Williams notes. ‘Then, the acid bath of the stomach knocked them dead on arrival. How many friendly microorganisms made up the right dosage? How many times a day? To take with or without food became the naturopath’s dilemma. Nobody really knew the right answer.’

 

However, hope came when scientists made an important discovery. ‘Laboratories got smarter, and made available more choices of probiotics with greater viability,’ says Williams. ‘We already knew about fibre and gut health, so we made sure our patients got at least 25 grams daily in their diet or included a fibre supplement. Fibre helps friendly bacteria stay alive. We learned about prebiotics: fibre and carbohydrates—like Jerusalem artichoke flour, which probiotics feed on to help colonies thrive.’

 

So where do we go from here? Williams advises, ‘We have to learn respect for the ancient bacteria that live with us, and in many ways, “are” us. Each of us has a unique mixture of bacteria. Healthy populations of friendly bacteria are associated with robust health. Restoring health requires effective therapy for repairing the gut.’ Williams outlines five steps you need to take to restore your gut ecology if you have a chronic disease:

 

1. Get a stool test to evaluate your microbiome.


2. Maintain a plant-based, high-fibre diet.


3. With meals, take aedical grade probiotics up to 50 billion units daily.


4. Take a prebiotic supplement.


5. In six months, retest your levels of bacteria, changing probiotics and carrying on if no improvement is found.

 

Categories: Bacteria, fibre, friendly bacteria, gut bacteria, gut ecology, nbsp, probiotics, williams

Can Supplements Help Diabetics Maintain Metabolism?

Studies have found that a combination of probiotics and prebiotics could help to reduce the levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in people with diabetes, according to new research carried out by the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Researchers found that six weeks of combined supplements, with Lactobacillus sporogenes and inulin, will significantly reduce the levels of C-Reactive proteins which can increase the levels of glutathione levels in the body and increase markers of inflammation. The symbiotic supplements also improve your blood lipid levels – researchers state that this is potentially the first study of its kind to examine the effects of symbiotic food on the metabolic rate of diabetic patients. Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms which can offer health benefits to the individual, whilst prebiotics are described as non-digestible substances which can encourage the favourable growth of indigenous bacterias in the body.

The study involved 62 diabetic patients aged between 35 and 70 to see whether synbiotics could help with the metabolic rate of their condition. Results show that the insulin levels of these randomised patients decreased following consumption of symbiotic foods, compared to the controlled aspect of the study which included food without the supplements. it also highlighted positive impacts on the improvement of HDL cholesterol too, according to researchers. Researchers have explained that further studies will need to take place as there has been no study into the effect of pro and prebiotics on the inflammatory biomarkers – likewise, cross-study comparisons are not easy, so further study will need to take place here too. Diabetes is a lifestyle condition which impacts various aspects of your health – getting tested for this disease is important if you think you have symptoms, as it will require medication and monitoring if serious.

Categories: Diabetes, probiotics, Supplements

Three Supplements You Should Take Once You Turn 50

At some point in life, you stop hearing your mum tell you to ‘drink your milk to grow big and strong’, and start hearing your kids nagging you to ‘take your calcium pills to avoid osteoporosis.’ Wellness experts argue that it’s vital to take your vitamins past the age of 60, ‘as the absorption of nutrients and minerals and vitamins can decline,’ explains Dr. Mickey Barber, president of Cenegenics Carolinas. ‘We don’t absorb as efficiently as we once did.’

According to Barber, ‘Unless you’re growing your own food and it’s all organic, pesticide and hormone free, you cook all your own meals [and] you never eat out, you’re going to need at least a multivitamin.’ It’s impossible to get all the vitamins and minerals you need from every meal, but scary supplement studies can make you think twice about pill popping. So which supplements are safe and recommended to take when you’re over 50? (Providing you have your doctor’s blessing, of course!)

Firstly, for a natural health boost, you can’t go wrong with curcumin. This is a substance found in turmeric and Indian dishes, but you can also take it in supplement form. Barber says curcumin is ‘a powerful anti-inflammatory. There are some studies that show it can reduce [brain] plaques in those with Alzheimer’s disease.’ Likewise, Barber heartily recommends a vitamin B12 supplement once you’ve reached the half-a-century mark. He explains that vitamin B12 is ‘very important for neurologic function, cognition and memory,’ and people who have a B12 deficiency have been shown to suffer from dementia or peripheral neuropathy, which is numbness in your hands and feet caused by nerve damage.

Dr Barber adds, ‘It’s surprising to me how many Americans have poor GI health, especially people over 45 and 50. Some signs of it are constipation, bloating, gas [and] just a general feeling that you’re bloated in your gut.’ Several things, such as chlorinated water and antibiotics, destroy the good bacteria in your gut, which means that your body won’t be able to absorb any of your vital vitamins. Therefore, Dr Barber suggests over 50s take probiotics, which are supplements of live bacteria to replace the good bacteria the body can lose. You can lower your dose once your gut re-colonises.

Categories: curcumin, probiotics, vitamin B12

The Best Kinds Of Calcium

Calcium is one of the most important minerals we need and we need a vast and convoluted array of vitamins and minerals. It’s necessary for maintaining a healthy bone structure and allowing our bones to easily recover should we damage them. As you get older calcium becomes much more important as, as a general rule, our skeletons weaken somewhat. Keeping a healthy amount of calcium in your diet can curb this weakening before it starts, saving you from at least some of the ravages of osteoporosis.

What you may not be aware of is that different kinds of dairy products have different levels of effectiveness when it comes to protecting your bones. Some are chock full of calcium and others may just have a tiny amount of the minerals. There’s also some evidence to suggest that certain dairy products are actually bad for certain areas of your body. Ice cream and cream itself have statistically smaller quantities of calcium in them that milk or yoghurt.

Yoghurt is great for you! Not only is it packed with calcium, it’s also got vitamin B, potassium and probiotics in it. These are the good bacteria which are found in our digestive tracts and aid in digestions and keeping and healthy intestine. Having a high level of probiotics in your gut will help to protect it from infection and disease and generally keep your healthy in all aspects of your life.

Kefir is a thinner form of yoghurt which is often used as a drink or poured over cereal. It has three times as many probiotics in it than yoghurt does and all the other benefits! Most kefir products come flavoured like yoghurt does and each half cup contains 40 billion probiotics whereas an entire helping of yoghurt only contains one billion probiotics per serving.

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The Best Kinds Of Calcium

Categories: calcium, Kefir, probiotics

How Good Bacteria Could Strengthen Your Bones

We’ve known about the supposed good bacteria known as probiotics for a long time. They’re touted as digestive aids, helping to reduce bloating and improve your digestive system naturally. They’re most commonly found in fermented dairy products like yoghurt. As we get older the amount of probiotics which our bodies naturally form in our intestines begins to diminish. This can weaken our response to disease and leave us open to infection. Regular boosters in the form of yoghurts can help to build these defences back up.

A recent study in the USA has shown that probiotics have another much less expected use. They’re good for maintaining the strength of your bones in a way which still isn’t fully understood. So far the study only involves mice but the findings are so positive that researchers will soon be expanding it to incorporate people too. This could be potentially great news for sufferers of osteoporosis as current medications can have some nasty side effects.

Osteoporosis is a condition which can be immeasurably damaging to you as you get older. A general weakening of the bones can lead to every bump or scrape being dangerous and any breaks you do sustain will take much longer to heal than they once did. Most doctors recommend calcium to patients with osteoporosis and while this can be helpful in strengthening bones it can also be damaging. In large quantities calcium can cause heart issues and it doesn’t work very well without vitamin D anyway.

In the coming months we could see radical new ways to treat osteoporosis. This could lead to a general improvement in the quality of life of patients who suffer from the disease. If you’re interested in seeing if probiotics work on easing the strains of osteoporosis then start eating more yoghurt! Let us know if it works in the comments section.

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How Good Bacteria Could Strengthen Your Bones

Categories: Bacteria, joints and bones, probiotics

Which Is The Best Way To Get Your Good-For-You Bacteria?

There is an ongoing debate as to whether it’s best to get vitamin and minerals and the like in supplement form or from foods, but the jury is in when it comes to bacteria. Though probiotics, the healthy microorganisms that aid in digestion, have become the darlings of the dairy industry, experts say that you should pick pills to get the concentration of good-for-you bacteria you need for your overall wellbeing.

The reason that so many yogurts, cottage cheeses, string cheeses and even cereal labels prominently boast their probiotic benefits is that, alongside boosting your digestive wellness, probiotics are believed to relieve and prevent a variety of diseases. However, the concentration of live bacteria found in these food products may not be enough to reap therapeutic benefits, which is why experts instead recommend taking a probiotic pill.

According to Dr Michael Schmidt, chief of gastroenterology at Holy Name Medical Centre, with a practice in Teaneck, ‘The bacteria are much less in quantity in yogurt. It’s not going to be helpful as taking an over-the-counter supplement.’ He explained that though research is still unclear about probiotics’ effectiveness in healthy individuals, strong data does exist for their use in treating conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, colitis and antibiotics-associated diarrhoea. He boasts, ‘I have personally found patients clearly get better.’

There are trillions of bacteria in your lower gastrointestinal track that are key in your body’s digestion, immune protection and vitamin absorption. However, certain factors can deplete your levels of these good bacteria, such as taking antibiotics or birth control pills, diet and digestive diseases, and so probiotic supplements can help re-colonise the essential microorganisms in your gut. Schmidt explained, ‘It makes the intestines really healthy and helps probably enhance or reduce inflammation and immune function.’

Naturopathic doctors, such as Dr. Robert Galaorwicz of Paramus, are also strong supporters of probiotics. According to Dr Galaorwicz, he advises roughly 80% of his patients to take a probiotic supplement because ‘it does a multitude of different things, helping with digestive disorders, acid reflux and helps boost the immune system.’

He recommends that you read labels carefully and look for brands that contain at least 4 to 5 billion live bacteria per capsule and at least three or more different types of strains, because each performs a different function. If you need to clear up an imbalance in the digestive system, you need to consume the probiotics anywhere from three months to a year, he adds.

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Which Is The Best Way To Get Your Good-For-You Bacteria?

Categories: digestion, probiotics, Supplements

Why We Can’t Cure The Common Cold

The common cold is so common because it has not been cured yet and it probably never will be. It’s not a serious condition and most people will have a cold without even noticing they do. It’s rare that a cold will get to the point where you need to take any time off to recuperate and though it might seem desirable to, you know you don’t actually need to.

Over the years the world and a kitchen sink have been suggested for treating the common cold and yet nothing really does. This is because the virus which causes it is actually different each time. It mutates and changes so quickly that by the time we cure one strain there’s an entirely new one. Scientists don’t bother doing this because it’s in no way deadly and there are more important illnesses to focus on. All of the cold and flu medicine you’ll buy over the counter are actually designed to treat the symptoms and done kill the condition itself. IT’s better to just wait for it to pass.

There’s been a lot of hype in the past for vitamin C and probiotics in terms of curing or at least protecting against the common cold. This is because both of these things can be used to help boost the immune system and if your immune system is up to scratch then you should never suffer from the condition in the first place!

Vitamin C is more hype than reality, it might work partially but living on orange juice while you’ve got a cold hasn’t been shown to get rid of that cold any faster than not doing so. Probiotics however, have shown some promise. They’re the good bacteria which live in our guts and they’ve been shown to boost the immune system enough to lessen the risk of contracting the cold.

So, if you want to limit your chance of contracting a cold then fill up on probiotic yoghurts and similar. Be aware that this won’t make you immune to cold! A lessened chance isn’t the same thing as no chance.

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Why We Can’t Cure The Common Cold

Categories: common cold, probiotics, vitamins