The Juiciest Tomato

Turns out that Vaginas have a similar pH to Tomatoes....Tomatoes, a theme in my life. At any rate, check out this interesting article to find out more about how to understand and regulate your "tomato". In a nutshell, the author advises women to pee and/or flush with hot water after sex and avoid using soap directly on the vaginal area as it is self cleaning, and Meg Hickling describes it as "one of the cleanest parts of the body", if left to it's own devices. Sugar and carbs that feed undesirable bacteria can also be a problem. I would add that I have heard it can also be useful to work on the male partner's ecosystem by monitoring sugar/carb intake as they can be affecting and re-introducing unbalancing elements into the system of the woman. For both men and women, eating natural yogurt, garlic and cranberries to your diet can help too.

H1N1

Just watched one of my favorite movies of all time last night, Willow. In one part the evil witch turns an entire army of humans into pigs...and well, sort of got me thingking about, you guessed it, swine flu. I have been debating about getting vaccinated. My job reccomends I do so, and apparently if I do come down with the flu, and am not vaccinated then I am not eligible for sick day coverage...so....pretty tempting. But now I hear they have run out of the vaccine for H1N1. Also, I have never had a flu shot before, and have some reservations. I got an email from a friend the other day and I feel like this good advice makes more sense than the relentless media hysteria over vaccination. Here it is:

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist), having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital, Bombay Hospital, Saifee Hospital, Tata Memorial, etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him; I feel it makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face.

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at using a Neti pot, but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton swabs dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*


5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C. *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.