Getting Rid Of Bacterial Vaginosis - 2 Important Dietary Methods

When you finally realize that your doctor can't help you with a working bacterial vaginosis treatment and start searching for an alternative, you are likely to be a little taken aback by the vast number of different ways of treating bv.

You'll find that a lot of these so-called cures just plain don't work. Every woman is different, and where one treatment worked for me, it may not work so well for you. The treatments in this article however, are different.

Following a number of years of research with various natural bacterial vaginosis remedies, there are a few strategies that I have found to work for ALL women.

Most methods on curing BV that rely on your diet, work by addressing your body's immune system. Clinical experiments have shown again and again that these treatments really DO work.

Due to the power of the immune system in treating vaginal infections like BV, all treatment regimes for BV should utilize a method that addresses the immune system.

"The best way to prevent your bacterial vaginosis symptoms from coming back, is to base all of your other treatments around a strong foundation comprised of dietary tactics that have been proven to bring solid results."

After my many years of experience I have found that those who get the best results are those that really take the time to repair any holes in their immune system that may prevent their immune system from working at maximum capacity.

So here is some important information on how to achieve long term remission from the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis – two working dietary methods that bring lasting results in the treatment of BV:

Dietary Strategy i: Reducing Saturated Fat And Total Fat Intake

Clinical and scientific studies have demonstrated a pertinent link between how much fat is in your diet and how likely you are to have BV. Women who consume more saturated fat are known to be more likely to suffer from BV, whereas women who have less fat in their diet are far less likely to have BV.

Reducing your intake of saturated fats will reduce the severity of your BV and can help to cure you of it permanently. Saturated fat not only reduces the local immune response in and around the vagina, it also has a strong alkalizing effect on the vagina, and an alkaline vaginal state is one in which bad bacteria prosper.

Butter and lard are examples of saturated fats, which are hard at room temperature. Saturated fats are also abundant in red meat, full fat milk and cheese. If you are to have real long term and lasting results at curing BV, it's very important to cut down on these foods.

Unlike saturated fats, monounsaturated fats have a much smaller effect on your BV symptoms. Polyunsaturated fats on the other hand (found in fish fats, bananas, sunflower seeds and whole grain wheat) were shown to have no significant effects on increasing the incidence of BV.

So if you avoid any one type of fat to help you cure BV make sure it's SATURATED fat. From all the clinical studies conducted in this area, there is no argument against the fact that saturated fats have a definitive causative effect on bacterial vaginosis symptoms.

Hence one way to begin your permanent treatment of BV is to reduce all dietary fats from your life, or you can substitute as much of your saturated fats for mono or polyunsaturated fats as possible.

Dietary Technique 2: Having More Vitamin E In Your Diet

It is common knowledge among doctors and chemists that vitamin E is an important component of the immune system. People taking vitamin E capsules benefit from a significantly lowered infection rate.

How much vitamin E do YOU take in through your diet? Clinical studies have shown a very strong correlation between the bioavailability of this particular micronutrient in your diet and BV. Increasing your intake can help you to cure BV.

Vitamin E also has a number of other benefits, such as prolonging your lifespan by reducing your risk of heart attacks and stroke.

Vitamins A and C, and zinc and iron MIGHT also exert a beneficial influence on bacterial vaginosis. The latest reports out there would however indicate that these other vitamins etc don't even come close to the effects of vitamin E on BV.

Women with BV did not respond much at all to changes in dietary intake of vitamins A,C, iron or zinc, or they were incomparable to the effects of vitamin E.

"Those with reduced levels of circulating vitamin E were demonstrated to be more likely to have BV symptoms. As well as this, bacterial vaginosis symptoms were far more pronounced in women who had a very low intake of vitamin E compared with those who just had a moderate deficiency."

These clinical studies are indeed quite new, so the effects of vitamin E and its possible use as a cure for BV has not been documented much around the internet.

With vitamin E you shouldn't take more than 1,000 IU (international units) each day. The RDA set by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) is 22 IU each day..

For increasing vitamin E, here are some foods you should be having more of:

Corn oil, Spinach, Broccoli, Soybean oil, Kiwifruit, Mango, Tomato, raw, Spinach, raw.

Supplementation is yet another option, although I DO believe that the safest method is the dietary pathway. Harm is always VERY unlikely to come to you when you increase your consumption of certain whole foods.

If you still would like to take supplements (they ARE easier I must admit), then my recommended dosage to you is around 100 IU each day. Make sure you see your physician prior to taking vitamin E supplements.

Just To Summarize

The immune system is key in the treatment of BV. If your immune system played a small part in causing your BV, replacing dietary deficiencies is a great way to help ensure your BV symptoms don't come back after treatment.

Unfortunately the majority of BV sufferers who are trying out natural remedies leave out the immune system and focus on short-term relief using douches and antibacterials.

I 100% recommend that you expend more effort on repairing and strengthening the immune system first, and use other treatments on top - as an ancillary to the fortification of your immune system.

So start reducing your saturated fat levels and increase your vitamin E levels from today and bacterial vaginosis will be unlikely to rear its ugly head ever again.