Probiotics For Vaginal Health

You might already be familiar with the concept of your gut microbiome, or the extensive community of bacteria, yeasts, and other microbes that live in your gastrointestinal system and play roles in supporting your digestive and immune health. But did you know that there’s also another community of microbes that are working behind the scenes to protect your vagina?

Here’s what you need to know about your vaginal microbiome, why it matters for your health, and the benefits of taking probiotics for vaginal health.

Your body is home to trillions of microbes, or single-celled organisms like bacteria, yeasts, and fungi, in a diverse community of species that we collectively call the “human microbiome.” As tiny as these microbes are, they’re a critical component for helping you stay healthy. They’re responsible for everything from helping you digest food, creating neurochemicals, aiding in vitamin production, supporting your immune system, and more!¹

You can find these microbial communities throughout your entire body, and each has a specialized flora that plays specific roles in the system in which they reside. One group of microbial species can be found in the vagina, in a community called the “vaginal microbiome.” Under normal circumstances, your vaginal microbiome is home to a number of beneficial bacterial and yeast species. These helpful microbes in your vaginal microbiome go on to play a wide variety of roles in your vagina to help keep you healthy and functioning normally.

Like the microbiome in your gut, the kinds of species in your vagina play a big role in maintaining the environment and its subsequent functions.

For example, some of the “good” bacterial species found in your vagina produce lactic acid as a byproduct, which goes on to help regulate your vaginal pH and keep it optimal.² The beneficial bacteria in your vagina are often considered the first line of defense against other potentially harmful bacterial species that could be introduced into your body (in other words, the “bad” bacteria that can cause problems for your health). They can do this by either competing directly with other unwanted microbial invaders or by releasing antimicrobial byproducts that inhibit the growth!³

Ensuring that the right bacteria species are present – and in the right amounts – is critical for your overall vaginal health.

Because your vaginal microbiome is such an important part of keeping your vagina healthy, it’s imperative that the bacterial balance in your vaginal flora has plenty of the “good” bacteria that help keep everything balanced.

Like the rest of the human microbiome, every single woman has a unique combination of microbial species present in their vaginal flora. This is based on a number of factors, including life experiences, diet, lifestyle, geography and more. Your vaginal microbiome will also fluctuate naturally during different stages of your life as your body changes overtime.³

These shifts in microbial species and diversity are normal and often temporary, there are other factors that could cause a change in the diversity and make up of your vaginal microbiome, including:⁴

• Stress
• Sexual activity
• Douching
• Smoking
• Some medications
  
  

These factors can lead to changes in the balance of bacteria in your vaginal microbiome. Unfortunately, in some cases an imbalance in our microbiome can occur, and you may feel it. Talk to your healthcare provider if you have any concerns about your vaginal health.

Luckily, supporting a healthy vaginal microbiome can start with something as simple as taking a probiotic with strains that support vaginal health.

Probiotics are live bacteria that you can introduce into your system to give your microbiome the support it needs and confer certain health benefits.⁵

Probiotics are perhaps most well-known for their uses in supporting your digestive system and gut health, but it turns out that certain strains can also support the microbiome in your vagina.

Good probiotics for vaginal health will contain specific feminine probiotics strains studied to promote vaginal health benefits. They can help by adding some of those beneficial bacterial species that are so important for maintaining a healthy vaginal balance and environment– and the scientifically-proven benefits of probiotics for vaginal health promise.

Your vaginal health is dependent on a healthy microbiome. Taking a daily probiotic is a smart, easy step you can take to support it daily. Now for some more good news: The #1 Doctor recommended probiotic brand^‡ has combined their unique probiotic strain for digestive health with two great probiotics for vaginal health!

Align Women’s Dual Action Capsules contain two unique feminine health probiotic strains, La-14^® & HN001^™, which can help support vaginal health and promote bacterial and yeast balance^*, as well as botanical chaste tree to help with monthly mood balance.^*

Each capsule also has the gut health probiotic strain Bifidobacterium 35624™, which can help relieve occasional digestive issues like bloating, gas, and abdominal discomfort.^*

Taking Align Women’s Dual Action Capsules is an excellent and convenient way to support two of your most important microbiome communities at once!