Yogurt and Yakult for the treatment of Vaginal Yeast Infection?

Who wouldn't want a yogurt with all the fresh fruit toppings?

Yogurt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of lactose by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and characteristic tang.

Dairy yogurt is produced using a culture of Lactobacillus subsp. In addition, Lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacteria and lactobacillus casei are also sometimes being added during and after culturing yogurt.

But aside from the nutritional value and health benefits of yogurt in supporting the digestive system, preventing diarrhea and promoting weight loss, do you know that yogurt are being used by other people as substitute feminine/vaginal wash? If you try searching the net about Candida a lot of blogs discusses the effectiveness of yogurt in treating yeast infection. Some even sell materials/books for download on how Candida can be cured by using yogurt.


How do you use it? Some recommends drinking/eating yogurt a day. Some recommends putting cold low fat yogurt in the vaginal area for 5 minutes and then rinsing it off. Others recommend making a popsicle stick out of a yogurt and use it as a tampoon to relieve itchiness. These are out of the norm practices but surprisingly some women found relief in doing such. The reason behind this is the lactic acid produced by the Lactobacillus sp.

Lactobacillus sp.are bacteria that normally live in the human small intestine and vagina. It is generally considered beneficial because it produces vitamin K, lactase and anti microbial substances. Multiple human trials report benefits of L. acidophilus for bacterial vaginosis but are not sufficient to form clear conclusions. By reasoning and logic yogurt  may actually be beneficial as it contains lactobacillus which is a natural flora of the vagina and that most feminine wash are made up of synthethically produced lactic acid which is naturally produced by lactobacillus. However, most doctors recommend medicines that have undergone extensive study for patients safety.

If you would ask me if using yogurt in whichever way is good, I would not contest it but I would not advise it either.I am for the best interest of the patient. If the patient finds comfort in using yogurt rather than buying expensive vaginal suppositories then why not but I would still recommend a papsmear to check if the yogurt really cured her infection and if not she has to take my prescription. That's what meeting halfway means.

In the Philippines, Filipino women has found a substitute for yogurt in the form of YAKULT since yogurt is more expensive here. I have heard women drinking Yakult 3 x a day. Some also used it as vaginal wash. Upon contemplating on the digestive process, drinking Yakult actually will not cure vaginal infections because greater portions of the drink goes to your digestive tract and some parts to the liver with very little part that goes to the reproductive system if ever there is any that is spared by the digestive tract and the liver. It is more reasonable to use it as a wash so it goes directly to the vagina which should benefit in the first place.

Yakult is somewhat sweet so better not to forget to rinse. As for me, I would rather drink Yakult as I have used to than use it otherwise.