Symptoms

Include discharge of mucus, irritation, redness, intense itching, odor, and pain during sex.

What is Vaginal Discharge?

From Modern Western Medicine

Most women experience mucus discharge from the vagina during child-bearing years, especially as a part of their menstrual cycle. The use of birth control pills can affect the mucus membranes of the vagina and increase or decrease the discharge. However, mucus discharge may be abnormal if it is excessive, yellow, or green, odorous or offensive in smell, and causes irritation or itching. Vaginitis (inflammation of the vagina) is among the most common cause of vaginal discharge and is often accompanied by itching of the vagina and vulva.

From Traditional Medicine

Vaginal discharge is the body’s attempt to rid itself of toxins, especially those accumulating in a woman’s sex organs. It is among the most common problem affecting women today, largely because women’s hormonal health has been compromised in the West by diet and lifestyle factors that stimulate the ovaries and encourages higher production of estrogen at an early age.

The primary problem facing women is the rich American diet, which encourages hormonal disorders in several ways. First, the diet is loaded with fat, which stimulates fat cells to produce estrogen. The fat and the lack of fiber combine to foster the growth of intestinal bacteria (clostridia varieties) that are able to convert bile acids into estrogen-like hormones.

The high-fat, highly refined American diet also allows estrogens that are produced by the body to circulate numerous times inside the body. Normally, the liver places a chemical on estrogens that prevents them from circulating more than once, but anaerobic bacteria are able to remove this compound and thus allow estrogen to keep circulating in a woman’s body. These hormones stimulate hormone-sensitive tissues, especially those in the breast, uterus, and the vagina.

In addition, many women take the birth-control pill, which adversely affects women’s health.

The best approach to regain health of the female organs is to eat a diet that is rich in complex carbohydrates and fiber and low in animal fats and proteins. The New England Journal of Medicine reported that vegetarian women eliminate to two to three times more estrogen in their feces than non-vegetarians. This, of course, promotes hormonal health; it occurs simply because vegetarian women eat diets that are low in fat and have an abundance of fiber.

Remedies

Food to Eat

  • Miso soup
  • Whole grains
  • Sprouts
  • Green, leafy vegetables
  • Cabbage
  • Black and white sesame seeds
  • Adzuki beans (will dry damp conditions)
  • Kombu/kelp
  • Chives (strengthens kidneys, treats dampness)
  • String beans
  • Clams
  • Mussels
  • Unsweetened cranberry juice
  • Garlic
  • Onions

Foods to Avoid

  • Sugar
  • Meat
  • Coffee
  • Dairy products
  • Fruits
  • Refined carbohydrates
  • Alcohol

 

Herbs to Treat Vaginal Discharge

Take 2 myrrh/goldenseal capsules every two hours.

Douche

  • Mix together equal parts of the following:

Goldenseal

Red raspberry

Echinacea

Slippery elm

Make a strong infusion using 1 oz. to a pint of distilled water; strain. Add 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar. Douche in the morning and retain liquid for five minutes (incline position).

  • Tea tree oil: 1 tbs. to 1 quart warm water, twice a day
  • White oak bark or bayberry bark: 1 oz. per 1 pint of water daily
  • Apple cider vinegar: 2 tbsp. to 1 quart warm water, twice a day
  • Daikon leaf hip bath

 

Supplements

  • Vitamin A: 5000 IU per day
  • Vitamin B1 (thiamine): 1.5 mg per day
  • Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): 1.8 mg per day
  • Niacin: 20 mg per day
  • Vitamin B6: 2 – 10 mg per day
  • Vitamin C: 100 – 500 mg per day
  • Vitamin E: 100 – 400 IU per day
  • Zinc: 15 mg per day
  • Garlic: 2 tablets, three times per day