Sis, This Is How To Keep Your Vagina's pH Balanced
Something that has come to fascinate me more, more and more over time, is what pH balance represents when it comes to our overall health and well-being. Another term for pH balance is acid-base balance which basically represents how much acidity and alkalinity are in our blood, especially as it relates to our lungs, kidneys and body buffer systems.
Monitoring your pH balance has to do with a scale of sorts. Blood-wise, the numbers are between 0-14 with 0 being strongly acidic and 14 being very alkaline (or base). The key is for your system to remain as neutral as possible by hanging somewhere around 7-7.45 (because blood is naturally more acidic) at all times. When this doesn't happen, health issues can arise including fatigue, high stress, indigestion, insomnia, lung and kidney challenges — oh, and vaginal drama.
Today, we're gonna talk more about the vaginal side of things. How to know what your vagina's pH is supposed to be, what to do if your pH is a little off and how to keep things on track (balanced) as much as possible. Ready?
What Is Your Vagina’s pH and Why Does It Matter?
When it comes to your vagina's pH levels, specifically, it's important to know what it is because it lets you know if your vagina is truly healthy or not.
Remember how I said that when it comes to your blood, you're in good shape if you're in the midway part of "7"? Well, as far as your vagina goes, the level that you need to be looking for is somewhere between 3.8 and 4.5 (although it should go on record that during your reproductive years, your pH is usually closer to 4.5 yet loses acidity as you head towards menopause, taking it to around a 5). What that range basically means is your vagina's pH is normal although it's leaning towards being acidic.
This is important to know because acid is what helps to protect your vagina from infections; however, if it's too acidic (under 4 or so), that can actually put you at risk for bacterial vaginosis (a bacterial overgrowth), a yeast infection (a fungus overgrowth) and trichomoniasis (an STD). Not only that but high acidity can also affect your fertility, if you're not careful. The reason behind that is it's easier for sperm to move around in a more alkaline environment. Just one more reason to keep your vagina as healthy as possible.
And just how can you know for sure that your vagina's pH is right where it's supposed to be? Thankfully, there are at-home tests that consist of you holding some pH paper on one side of your vagina for a few seconds. Then you compare the color on the paper to the color on the chart of the test to see what your results are. Since these tests are as effective as the ones that doctors use, it's an inexpensive and convenient way to see if your vagina is "lining up" with where it should be. You should be able to find vaginal screening tests at your local Walmart or drugstore (like CVS).
And just what can cause a vagina's pH to get out of balance?
What Can Throw Off Your Vagina’s pH?
There's no way around the fact that our vaginas are pretty sensitive. That's why it's so important to know what can throw your vagina's pH balance off. Your menstrual cycle (and pregnancy) can do it because menstrual blood has a way of raising your vagina's pH levels. Antibiotics can do it because not only do those tend to get rid of the bad bacteria that causes a disease or ailment but the good bacteria as well (which is why you should up your probiotic intake if you are currently on an antibiotic prescription; probiotics help to replenish good bacteria in your system). One of the reasons why douching is an absolute no-no is because it also increases your vagina's pH.
Consuming a lot of sugar isn't a good idea because yeast and bacteria feed off of sugar and the overgrowth of either can throw off your pH and lead to a yeast infection. Super tight clothes or panties that aren't made out of breathable fabrics like cotton aren't good for your vagina's pH because the combination of heat and moisture is also ideal for bacterial growth. If you're sleeping with more than one person, use a condom; sperm is alkaline and can trigger bacterial growth (especially with "unfamiliar" semen). Stress is another thing that can throw your vagina's pH levels way off too (more on that in a bit).
So, say that your vagina's pH isn't where it's supposed to be. What are some clear indications of that? A change in your vaginal discharge (especially if it's frothy, green and/or itchy). A fishy smell. Vaginal irritation. A burning sensation when you urinate.
When Should You See Your Doctor About Your Vagina’s pH?
So, what if you take a pH test and it does reveal that "your numbers" do not fall between the 3.8 and 4.5 mark and/or you've got any of the symptoms that I just mentioned? Should you make an appointment to see your doctor if that is the case? Possibly.
What I mean by that is, if the symptoms point to a yeast infection and you've already had one of those before, usually it's fine to just go to your local drugstore and get what you need to heal it (unless you've had more than one in the past six months or it doesn't seem to go away with over the counter treatments). However, if the symptoms are different, more extreme or there is a foul odor, don't "Google your way" into a solution. As much as I'm all about a home remedy, sometimes you can make matters worse if you find yourself "treating" the wrong ailment because you misdiagnosed the issue.
5 Ways to Maintain a Proper Vaginal pH Balance
Now that you know what to do if your vaginal pH isn't hanging around the numbers that it should, let me end this with some proactive ways to keep that from being an issue in the first place. The good news is all of these tips are pretty easy to implement.
Take a probiotic. There are good and bad bacteria in your vagina. Aside from eating less sugar, something else that can keep bad bacteria from totally taking over is taking a probiotic supplement. As far as which ones you should take, check out The Healthy's "12 Best Probiotics for Women" for a good point of reference. Also, foods that are naturally high in probiotics include Greek yogurt, fermented foods like pickles, kefir and sauerkraut, raw cheese, brine-cured olives, apple cider vinegar and sour cream.
Watch what goes into your vagina. So, here's the thing about semen — it has a pH of being somewhere between 7.1 and 8 (very alkaline). When you engage in sexual intercourse, your vagina's pH naturally rises in order to become more alkaline and protect the sperm (so that conception can transpire). However, what this can also do is make your vagina way more vulnerable to bacterial growth. That's why, unless you are in an exclusive long-term relationship, it's really best to wear a condom every time. And what about rubbers? Can they mess up your pH too? While technically they could, if you happen to experience a vaginal reaction, it's probably more about being allergic to latex because studies reveal that consistent condom use actually decreases the chances of having an imbalanced vaginal pH.
Ditch tampons. Growing up, I wasn't "allowed" to use tampons. In college, I "rebelled" and started to use them. In my 30s, I went back to pads and now I'm all about the menstrual cup. My mother used to always say that period blood shouldn't just "sit" in a woman's vagina; it needs to flow out. I agree. And you know what? Something else that blood-filled tampons can do is throw your vagina's pH levels off. Just one more reason to try a menstrual cup (by the way, if you've got a high cervix, INTIMINA's Lily Cup is all good things).
Drink water. Something else that having an imbalanced vaginal pH can do is lead to a urinary tract infection (UTI); not that it "causes" a UTI. It's more like, being that this kind of infection is typically the result of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and bacteria thrives in toxins, drinking lots of water can help to keep toxins out and remove bacteria on a consistent basis so that you're less susceptible to a UTI occurring.
Keep your stress levels down. Last fall, I wrote "Ever Wonder If Your Vagina Is Stressed TF Out?" for the platform. It's all about signs that your vagina is stressed. One red flag is your discharge is different which is usually directly connected to your pH levels. Listen, if anything can put your hormones in influx which can wreck your sleep and diet which can lower your immunity and make your vagina more susceptible to bacterial and fungal growth, it's stress. So, whether it's a person, place, thing or idea, please be hypervigilant about not allowing anyone or anything ruin your peace. There's a huge chance that your vagina will show all the way out if it does and as you've already read, that's just one more reason why being stressed is totally not worth it. Not at all.
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Different puzzle pieces are creating bigger pictures these days. 2024 will mark a milestone on a few different levels, including the release of my third book next October (yay!).
I am also a Professional Certified Coach. My main mission for attaining that particular goal is to use my formal credentials to help people navigate through the sometimes tumultuous waters, both on and offline, when it comes to information about marriage, sex and relationships that is oftentimes misinformation (because "coach" is a word that gets thrown around a lot, oftentimes quite poorly).
I am also still super devoted to helping to bring life into this world as a doula, marriage life coaching will always be my first love (next to writing, of course), a platform that advocates for good Black men is currently in the works and my keystrokes continue to be devoted to HEALTHY over HAPPY in the areas of holistic intimacy, spiritual evolution, purpose manifestation and self-love...because maturity teaches that it's impossible to be happy all of the time when it comes to reaching goals yet healthy is a choice that can be made on a daily basis (amen?).
If you have any PERSONAL QUESTIONS (please do not contact me with any story pitches; that is an *editorial* need), feel free to reach out at missnosipho@gmail.com. A sistah will certainly do what she can. ;)
This Black Woman-Owned Creative Agency Shows Us The Art Of Rebranding
Rebranding is an intricate process and very important to the success of businesses that want to change. However, before a business owner makes this decision, they should determine whether it's a rebrand or an evolution.
That's where people like Lola Adewuya come in. Lola is the founder and CEO of The Brand Doula, a brand development studio with a multidisciplinary approach to branding, social media, marketing, and design.
While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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Women's Voting Organization Supermajority's CIO Talks Election Issues, Minus The Drama
Voting has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a child, my parents would pack my sister and me up in the car and allow us to take in the excitement of the polls during local and national elections.
Years later, in 2008, I voted in my first election for Barack Obama and emotionally celebrated his win surrounded by fellow classmates from Clark Atlanta, Spelman, and Morehouse.
I remember calling my grandmother, who has since transitioned, and hearing the passion in her voice when she explained how she’d never thought she’d see something like this happen and how much it meant to her. As I reflect, I realize it’s a combination of memories like this that undoubtedly encouraged my will to vote.
However, as an adult, my reasoning behind the practice has developed. It’s no longer just about “the right thing to do.” I feel a responsibility to myself and my future to know the issues, how they impact me, and make a difference for others.
In the times we’re in, there's so much “news” everywhere. It’s hard to distinguish fact from opinion and bias from beliefs. This is why it was such a pleasure speaking with Jara Butler, Chief Impact Officer of Supermajority. Supermajority is an organization focused on making women the most powerful voting bloc in the country. During this authentic and informal conversation, we talked about so much.
I learned about her time working with the Obama campaign and how she masterfully worked in multiple industries, and we shared some of our favorite female rap moments. However, in the snapshot you’ll read, we focused on the issues. Jara walked xoNecole through what’s most affecting women of color in this election and what we can do to be more aware. Whether you’re a politics girlie or like me, just trying to gain more insight, hopefully this convo connects with you.
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xoNecole: Let’s just jump right in. What are some of the most popular issues that you hear Black women discussing related to this election?
Jara Butler: Our sister organization, the Supermajority Education Fund, recently did some research specifically looking at young women in the age group 18 to 35, and young Black women identified their economic well-being as a priority. Right now, we're in a place where a lot of us, especially young Black women, are finding that meeting those basic needs are harder and harder.
Secondly, is Project 2025. I think Black women see it as not just something that could happen, but actively happening. For example, we’ve all been watching the case with the Fearless fund, and how it's been targeted. We know Black women are very entrepreneurial. We can go back to Madam C.J. Walker and others who have opened the door for all of us to achieve. But if those barriers are in place, we're just not going to be able to meet that.
Lastly, Repro is a very big issue. But I think looking at it holistically and not just about abortion is important. Black women are more likely to talk about this from a perspective of our reproductive health care and the lack of access due to medical racism. As a Black woman myself, who's over 40, a lot of the changes that I am making in my life are because I have to do everything I can to put myself in a position, because I know no matter what my economic status is, if I walk into a medical office, there's a good chance I'm gonna face medical discrimination. Breast cancer screenings, colon cancer screening, ovarian cancer screening, cervical cancer screenings - all of those are part of that network of reproductive health.
xoN: Another issue I’d love your insight into is our missing girls. I think it's so unbelievable how much this is swept under the rug. There are so many stories about Black women that are continuing to go missing; I don’t understand how that’s not a bigger conversation. Is this something that can be pursued on the government level and what can we do to bring more attention to this issue?
Jara: We have this list of majority rules on our website, and my favorite one is: that our government represents us. I think that we have to continue to apply pressure to our government to meet our needs. And again, women are the majority of voters. Black women, especially, are the most reliable voting bloc across all groups, and our interests right now are not being met. So yes, there is something that we can do, but I also am a big proponent of us having these conversations.
My great-grandmother was enslaved, my grandmother was born into Jim Crow, and I watched my mother face economic insecurity. I say that because, as a Black community, we have to have an internal conversation to talk about these issues, and we have to do it upfront. I think we have to get into a position of realizing that we do have power, and how we activate that power.
Our power comes from being Black folks because Black people organizing has been enough to shake up and scare people. There were laws that prevented us from congregating together, even at church, because they knew what would happen when we got together. We have to get back into that. It's not that we are not doing it, but the urgency needs to be greater. And finally, we have to get away from depending on one individual to take us there. It's gonna take all of us.
"Our power comes from being Black folks because Black people organizing has been enough to shake up and scare people. There were laws that prevented us from congregating together, even at church, because they knew what would happen when we got together. We have to get back into that. It's not that we are not doing it, but the urgency needs to be greater."
xoN: I agree completely. Now, when we started, you mentioned money. So let’s talk about it. So many of us are starting businesses and getting degrees, and I love to see it. But everyone seems to still be having a lot of the same issues around finances. What are some of the underlying reasons behind this debt that we're dealing with, and how can voting influence these challenges without getting into the individual candidates?
Jara: Hello! Let’s talk about the money! Black women have been told that if we want to move ahead, we have to have that master's degree. We have to be twice as good. So we met that measure, right? But in order to do that, we have to pay for it. Up until about the 1970s college was absolutely affordable. You could work one job and pay for college with some money left over. That has changed.
Realistically, student loans are a barrier. They are a barrier to access housing. They impact our credit, and really and truthfully, depending on how much your loans are, they could affect you paying rent. It basically creates a cycle of debt. And I have real problems with people who say, get a degree in something that's going to make money. It’s about your skills, and if you have the skills, you should be able to earn a living. That covers that.
But the fact is that student loan debt continues to increase, and there have been attempts, more than once, to try to relieve some of that pressure. The reality is that this is a squeeze. It is a conundrum, and we see efforts by the current White House administration to try to alleviate those things, even when they are stopped.
But truly, Congress needs to step in and support this, but I would take it a step further. We should be considering and looking at what it would look like if we had free community colleges. Because what we have now is two generations of borrowers, because older millennials’ children are beginning to age. Black women have the highest degree of second-degree secondary education, but we carry like 1.7 trillion in debt or something like that. I can't remember the exact number, but basically, the majority of the student loan debt is ours.
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xoN: Speaking of college, obviously there’s a lot of discussion around affirmative action in the schools and the undergoing changes. How important is it to consider this topic, and are there any new laws or policies being proposed around this that we should be aware of?
Jara: Oh my goodness, affirmative action is one of the things that we saw that our sister site, the Supermajority Education Fund, found last year as a number two issue for young women. I actually hypothesized that it was a real thing, and it was. And the reason for that is that affirmative action as a whole has been something that benefited white women more than any other group.
However, what is happening is that we’re using the word DEI in a way that is derogatory. I’ve heard people refer to it as: “didn't even earn it.” And as a Black woman who attended an amazing school, I remember being in class and having someone make that comment, knowing my grades were higher than theirs.
The fact of the matter is that we would not need these policies if we lived in an equal and equitable society. It doesn't do us any harm for us to face the facts that this country was built off the backs of enslaved people and the blood of indigenous people, and off the sweat and the tears of immigrants. But because we are unwilling to face that, we now are demonizing programs that are actually meant to create some symbol of balance.
xoN: Finally, I’ll close with this, what can we do to provide information to young people, and how do we combat all of the less than researched info?
Jara: One thing I encourage is to look at the source. At Supermajority, our social channels are information-based. We strive to provide up-to-date accurate information that is digestible to all. Media literacy is something I believe in, and unfortunately, it is something that we have a responsibility to continue to share with the community at large. So much of our world is centered on immediate info, a lie spreads faster than the truth.
We just saw that with the Olympic women's boxers, and we have to ask ourselves often: is this information accurate? Who is telling the story? Most importantly, how am I an original contributor? Not everything said needs to be shared, and not every thought needs to be public.
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