DIET FOR VAGINAL HEALTH

Perhaps you or some one you know is prone to yeast infections or UTIs. Maybe you're entering menopause and are concerned about how your changing hormones may affect your vaginal health. Or maybe you're just interested in making some lifestyle adjustments to promote your general sexual well-being. Whatever the reason, just a few simple dietary adjustments can help support your vagina's general health by preventing infections and maintaining the proper pH balance.

PROBIOTICS

 

Your body is a host to all sorts of bacteria, good and bad. Body-friendly bacteria are known as probiotics. A healthy population of probiotics can help keep the bad microorganisms that cause vaginal infections, such as yeast and the Gardnerella bacteria, at bay. You can help keep up their numbers by eating food that contains probiotics. The best-known probiotic is acidophilus, and it's in yogurt that has live or active cultures, as well as other fermented milk products such as kefir. Many more processed foods are also adding probiotic bacterial strains to their products and will say so on the label. Peggy Morgan, author of "The Female Body: An Owner's Manual," recommends eating a cup of yogurt a day for optimal vaginal health.

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CRANBERRY JUICE

 

Cranberry juice is commonly used to prevent and treat urinary tract infections, or UTIs, by acidifying the urine. But it can also help balance the pH levels of the entire vaginal area as well. The definitive women's health tome "Our Bodies, Ourselves," by the Boston Women's Health Collective, recommends consuming eight ounces daily, saying, "drinking unsweetened cranberry juice every day is the simplest way to keep the vaginal pH balanced."

GARLIC

 

Garlic has known antimicrobial properties, according to AltMD, and the Yeast Infection Home Page notes that garlic suppositories are often recommended as a home remedy for yeast infections. Eating one to three cloves of garlic a day, preferably raw, is another alternative recommended by AltMD. The volatile oils in garlic travel through the bloodstream and are excreted through the skin, which is why you smell like garlic the day after you eat it, but it's precisely this phenomenon that allows garlic to do its work.

VITAMINS

 

Vitamin E helps skin conditions in general and, according to The Healthier Life website, helps prevent vaginal dryness. Foods rich in vitamin E include wheat germ, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts, as well as the oils derived from these foods. It also can't hurt to keep up your levels of vitamin C, which is a general immune system booster, The Healthier Life states. Citrus fruits, strawberries, kiwi, green and red peppers and, surprisingly, broccoli are all rich in C.

FOODS TO AVOID

 

The Healthier Life website states, "the most important part of Candida treatment is to 'starve' this yeast of the sugars and other carbohydrates it needs to multiply, by adhering to a strict low carb diet." Most alcohol is also full of sugars that microbes can feed upon, so avoid that too. Some experts including The Healthier Life also recommend avoiding foods that contain yeast, such as bread and beer; although the Yeast Infection Homepage says there is no evidence that this has a positive effect, it states "it can't hurt."

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SQUAT WORKOUTS

If you are looking for a way to tone and tighten your lower body, consider squats. Performing squats engages the muscles in your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves. Squats can be executed with little to no equipment or space. They can also be modified to target different areas of the legs or to add intensity to the exercise.

 

 

 

 

PRISONER SQUATS

 

Performing prisoner squats stimulates all of the muscles in the lower body and core. Begin with your arms extended straight in front of you. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your chest lifted and sit your hips back like you're about to sit in a chair. Continue the movement until your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle. Squeeze your thigh and butt muscles. Press back up, returning to the starting position. Repeat for three sets of 15 repetitions.

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SINGLE LEG SQUATS

 

Single leg squats target your thigh, butt and core muscles. Doing squats while standing one leg recruits more core muscles to keep your body stabilized. Stand in front of a flat bench with your back to the bench. Extend your left leg behind you and place your foot on the bench. Position your arms out the sides for balance. Lower your left knee toward the ground until your right knee is bent at a 90-degree angle. Press up and return to the starting position. Repeat for three sets of 15 repetitions.

STABILITY BALL SQUATS

 

Stability ball squats engage your core, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves. Stand with your back against a wall with your feet slightly in front of you. Position the stability ball behind the small of your back. Sit your hips back and down until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Hold for one second at the bottom of the movement. Press up until your legs are straight and return to the starting position. Repeat for three sets of 15 repetitions.

JUMP SQUATS

 

Jump squats work the entire lower body with by using explosive movement. Begin standing with your feet shoulder width apart. Sit your hips back until your knees are bent at 90 degrees. Jump straight into the air. Land, returning to the squat position. Repeat the movement for three sets of 15 repetitions.

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What Are the Benefits of Doing a Basic Squat?

The squat is a strength-building lower body exercise. It is executed by placing a weighted barbell across your shoulders, then using your legs to lower and raise your body. The movement resembles the act of repeatedly sitting in and standing from a chair. There are many physiological benefits to performing squats regularly. In fact, many athletes view this movement as the most effective exercise for developing total-body strength.

MUSCLE GROWTH

 

The muscles in your thigh are the biggest and strongest of your body. These are also stressed most during the execution of your squat routines. Muscles, when placed under great opposition, release a hormone called testosterone. This biochemical is an essential element to the process of muscle growth. The testosterone that is released circulates through your entire system, stimulating whole-body development.

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JOINT SUPPORT

 

Weight training not only builds muscle, but also strengthens bone and connective tissue. As your leg muscles become more powerful, so do the joints within your lower body. Squats toughen the knees and ankles, as well as their supporting ligaments and tendons. This leaves them less susceptible to injury and capable of supporting the body well as you age.

BALANCE

 

Doing squats can help you maintain your balance as you get older. Strengthening your lower body helps fortify the system of nerves that control movement in that area. This allows you to keep the natural sense of equilibrium that complements fluid movement. Muscles also learn and internalize repeated patterns of behavior. Doing squats contracts and moves those chiefly responsible for mobility, helping you keep your poise and composure.

MIDSECTION

 

Squats also strengthen your bodies abdominal core, the group of muscles surrounding your mid-section. The muscles in both your abdomen and your lower back are utilized to hold and balance the weight throughout the movement. This strengthens both your posture and balance, as well as assists your body in performing everyday physical tasks.

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Why Real Food is Not Enough Anymore

Supporters of the real food movement cry, "Just eat real food!" They believe that a back to the basics eating philosophy will go a long way towards preventing and reversing many of the health conditions and lifestyle-related diseases that currently afflict Americans. But, is it really just as simple as eating real whole foods? While many of us may think that a diet filled with natural proteins, fresh fruits, and colorful vegetables would be a foolproof prescription for good health, here in the 21st century, these real whole foods may not provide us with the same health benefits as they did for our ancestors.

Consider an apple, for example:

- It's a real, whole food, right? What is it about the modern apple that makes it any less "healthy" for us than it was for our ancestors? To start, today's apple probably wasn't grown in soil bursting with essential vitamins and minerals. Instead, it was likely grown in over-farmed, micronutrient-depleted soil. According to the USDA, an apple pick today has 96% less iron, 48% less calcium, 84% less phosphorous and 82% less magnesium than an apple grown only 80 years ago.

- We are also not eating our apples moments after they were picked or at the peak of their ripeness. The apples in today's grocery stores were often picked prematurely and shipped from thousands of miles away, losing their vitamins and minerals every minute of every mile traveled.

- Sadly, the vast majority of our modern apples are not clean, naturally-grown apples. According to the USDA Pesticide Data Program, an apple is sprayed with up to 42 different pesticides, and these pesticides can cause hormone disruption, cancer, and nerve and reproductive damage.

And our protein-based foods aren't any better off:

- Do you think the fish you had the other night was wild caught, or was it one of those new-fangled farmed fish that now make up nearly 50% of America's fish supply (and up to 90% of our Salmon supply)? It was likely a farmed fish that never swam free in its natural environment nor ate its natural diet, but instead was bred in a tank packed so full the fish can hardly move, teaming with lice and bacteria that must be dealt with using vaccines and other medications and fed a diet filled with GMO-laden corn and soy.

- And the chicken breast you enjoyed last week?  Was it from a healthy, organic, pasture-raised bird with access to grass, bugs, dirt, and sunshine like it would have been throughout past history? More likely it was from an animal raised in an over-crowded confined space with very little access to its natural environment, fed arsenic to enhance its color, and given a steady diet of GMO corn and soy.

The fact is, eating real whole food is a good first step toward health, but it is not enough, in and of itself, to turn around the global health crisis we are all facing today. The problems in our food manufacturing have gone far beyond what can be fixed by simply eating real whole foods. In order to see any real change we must address the issue of food quality. We must first recognize that the real value of any food is in the vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids that it delivers. We must choose food that is rich in these micronutrients. Then we must take another important step, often overlooked if simply looking for "real food."

We must make it our goal to avoid the dangerous food manufacturing practices and ingredients that have become so prevalent in our food supply today. Ingredients like brominated vegetable oil (BVO), synthetic hormones, GMOs, azodicarbonamide, and BHA to name a few that have already been banned from use in foods in numerous other countries due to their dangerous effects on health. We call the foods that avoid these ingredients and practices "rich foods."

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Tips to Avoid Toxins in Packaged Foods

Have you ever seen Bisphenol-A (BPA) listed in the ingredients of a can of tuna or a can chicken noodle soup?

Most likely not.

That doesn't mean you're not consuming it.

BPA is a synthetic estrogen that has been used to package consumer goods since the 1950s. It can be found in reusable drink containers, DVDs, cell phones, eyeglass lenses and automobile parts. In the grocery store, you are most likely to come into contact with BPA in polycarbonate plastics used for water bottles and in the lining of food cans. It is even in the thermal paper used for cash register receipts.

The BPA used in cans and bottles can seep into your food and beverages, and it is especially good at leaching into canned foods that are acidic, salty, or fatty, such as coconut milk, tomatoes, canned fish, soup, and vegetables.

With BPA in the packaging of so many household staples, it is likely that you have some in your system. In a 2003 -2004 survey the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found detectable levels of BPA in 93 percent of Americans in a sample of 2,500 people tested.

A November 2011 Harvard School of Public Health study found that a group of volunteers who consumed a serving of canned soup each day for five days had a more than 1,000% increase in urinary bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations compared with when the same individuals consumed fresh soup daily for five days.

According Duke Medicine, animal research has raised concern about the possible health implications that BPA exposure might have in humans. The chemical could cause a wide variety of problems, from behavioral and reproductive issues to obesity and cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration is concerned and is taking steps to reduce human exposure to BPA in the food supply, so much so that it has banned BPA use in infant bottles.

However, until BPA is removed from all plastics, here are some tips to help you minimize your exposure:

1. Look for containers that are labeled "BPA free."

2. Choose glass, porcelain, or stainless steel containers over aluminum or plastic bottles, cans and containers

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3. Don't choose plastic bottles that have the numbers 3 or 7 recycling symbols on the bottom. Number 6 is dangerous as well, but for different reasons.

4. Never microwave in plastic containers.

5. Never wash or reuse plastic containers not labeled as "BPA free" 
(e.g., ribbed bottles or water containers).

6. Reduce your use of canned goods unless they are labeled "BPA free."

Three plastic container types to avoid whenever possible:

3 (PVC) – A possible carcinogen. Found in bottles and clear food packaging, number 3 plastics may release toxins into your food and drinks. The risk is heightened when these containers are put through the dishwasher, heated up or frozen. Flexible plastics may contain BPA as well.

6 (PS) - Number 6 plastics are what we call Styrofoam. These can release toxins into our food when heated up.

7 (OTHER) - Found in baby bottles, water bottles and food containers, number 7 containers can leach bisphenol A - a hormone disruptor that can lead to neural and behavioral problems in children. BPA is a synthetic hormone that can stimulate premature puberty.

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A BUSY WOMAN'S DIET

Trying to fit a complicated diet in with the demands of family, work and social time may seem impossible. Healthy food does not have to take a lot of time to prepare. Nor does it mean that you avoid all conveniences. By learning how to make better choices and with a little planning, even a busy woman can enjoy a diet that helps to manage her weight.

 

 

 

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

 

Achieving a healthy weight requires you to manage your calorie intake and physical activity. Eating more calories than you burn in a day results in weight gain, while consuming fewer leads to weight loss. These fundamental basics of weight loss apply whether or not you feel you have enough time to count calories or exercise.

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PORTION SIZES

 

You may not have time to precisely calculate your daily calorie and macronutrient intake, but you can control portion sizes. Eating proper portion sizes does not mean you have to weigh and measure every last bite. Rather, learn to eyeball appropriate servings of foods. The Cleveland Clinic suggests thinking of portions in relation to common objects. For example, 3 oz. of cooked meat or fish is the size of your palm, a ½ cup of grapes is the size of a light bulb and 2 tablespoons of salad dressing is about as big as a ping pong ball. You can also easily portion out your food by filling half your plate with green vegetables and then leaving a quarter each for proteins and starches. Be especially vigilant at restaurants, which tend to serve over-inflated portions.

HEALTHIER CHOICES

 

At home or eating out, choose lean proteins such as poultry and fish, whole grains such as microwavable, frozen brown rice and whole wheat pasta and fresh fruits and vegetables. A busy woman's pantry should be stocked with whole grain crackers, oatmeal, olive oil, canned beans, tuna and low-sodium tomato sauce. The freezer may hold a few low-calorie, low-sodium frozen meals for nights when there is simply not enough time to prepare a meal from scratch. When you know you will have a busy week, make sure you have healthy snacks on hand--such as fresh fruit, deli turkey, nuts, whole-wheat english muffins and hummus--so at least you can graze all day and not skip meals, only to overeat at the next opportunity.

CONSIDERATIONS

 

Think outside of "conventional" meal planning when coming up with a diet for a busy lifestyle. An easy dinner may be composed of breakfast foods like scrambled eggs, or egg whites, turkey bacon and fresh fruit, purchased pre-cut. On nights you have time to cook, perhaps on a weekend, make extra food that can be frozen and rethawed when time is of the essence. Foods such as chili made with lean ground turkey, lentil soup and vegetable lasagna made with whole grain noodles and low fat cheese can be prepared in large quantities and frozen in single servings.

SAMPLE MEAL PLAN

 

For a busy woman, breakfast might begin with bran or oat cereal with berries and low-fat milk. If getting the children ready does not even permit this much preparation, grab a low-fat string cheese with a banana and a few whole almonds. At lunch, use a salad kit to toss together a salad and top it with canned, water-packed tuna and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Eat a yogurt--for calcium--and a graham cracker for dessert. At dinner, run into the grocery store and purchase a rotisserie chicken, whole-grain rolls and a bag of steamable, frozen vegetables. Snack two times a day on fresh fruit such as apples and bananas that can be tossed into your purse.

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