Vagina Probiotics vs Normal Probiotics
Knock knock
Who’s there?
Bacteria.
Bacteria who?
Good bacteria. Eat me!
With new advancements in science, there is a lot of growth in preventive medicine. Probiotics are one of the latest trends to hit this sector. Let us find out how can Vee benefit from this fascinating world of probiotics!
What are Probiotics?
The term probiotic is derived from the Latin preposition “pro,” which means “for” and the Greek word “biotic” meaning “bios” or “life”. Simply speaking it means that Probiotics modify and replace harmful microbes with beneficial ones to keep the healthy balance in your body.
In your gut, you have 100 trillion bacteria. 90 trillion of them are good bacteria. The ones produced in your body are indigenous probiotics. The ratio of 90:10 is very important. As long as this ratio is maintained, your body stays in good health. When this ratio changes and the bad bacteria increase, you may need to add external Probiotics to help fight the bad bacteria.
There are many reasons that can reduce your good bacteria. For instance, antibiotics are known to kill good bacteria. That’s why we talk about C. Diff which is an infection that is happening much more now because we are not giving probiotics along with antibiotics. If there is an imbalance between good and bad bacteria, it is called dysbiosis. If the bad bacteria take over, then you can have a lot of digestive issues, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It can also cause bloating, diarrhoea, bloating, cramping and more.
Stress, our food intake, antibiotics, age could all be causes of imbalance. Probiotics don’t only control digestive health. They also help with immunity and weight maintenance. They are especially good for pregnant and lactating women.
What are vaginal probiotics?
Now that we know what probiotics are, let us delve into the nuances and learn about vaginal probiotics. If deduced logically, it simply means good bacteria for the vagina that can help with vaginal bacterial and yeast infections.
How do probiotics work?
Your body has both good and bad natural bacteria. Probiotics are good live-bacteria that are similar to ones found naturally in your body. Whenever the count of bad bacteria gets higher than the good bacteria in your body, it yields to infection, making you sick. Introducing Probiotics, meaning the externally added good bacteria in your body, helps fight the extra bad bacteria to restore the healthy balance.
Difference between probiotics and vaginal probiotics:
-Probiotics can help with digestive problems like diarrhoea, flatulence, constipation, acid reflux and even eczema.
-Vaginal probiotics help with bacterial yeast infection (which may cause itchiness and discharge that looks like cottage cheese) and bacterial vaginosis (in which you may notice a fishy smell, especially after your period or after sex, along with a grey-greenish discharge.
-While most probiotic supplements like yoghurts contain Lactobacillus bacteria, it is different to the type of Lactobacillus found in your vagina.
-The most common bacteria found in the vagina is L. crispatus and L. iners.
-More variety of probiotics leads to better gut health.
-For the vagina, only the presence of Lactobacillus bacteria is healthy.
-To increase the good bacteria in your body you can consume foods, drinks and supplements like yoghurt, kefir, kombucha, tempeh, kimchi and many other fermented edibles.
-Vaginal probiotic supplements include both probiotic pills and suppository capsules that are inserted into the vagina using an applicator. However, rather than vaginal probiotics, antibiotic and antifungal medications are preferred treatments for vaginal bacterial and yeast infections.
-You can increase beneficial microbes in your body from certain foods that have probiotics (good bacteria) in them and can benefit the health of your microbiome. These foods can be introduced into your diet at any point of the day.
-You take some vaginal probiotics as pills and insert others as suppositories into your vagina.
-Probiotics for the gut may trigger allergic reactions, and may also cause mild stomach upset, diarrhoea, or flatulence and bloating for the first few days after starting to take them.
-BV and yeast infections caused by vaginal imbalance can cause serious discomfort if left untreated.
Final Thoughts:
While probiotics are the latest rage in the world of wellness that has a lot to read between the lines. With some high claims to its name, it has some scepticism from scientists. Although there is much more to be proven and advanced in the field of probiotics, it seems we have a long way to go.