And there are so many reasons...
A prominent gynaecologist has been forced to take to twitter to strongly advise women against putting garlic in their vaginas.
Obviously you're thinking 'why on earth would anyone have the urge to do that?' Which is a valid question.
But basically there's an old wives' tale that suggests garlic can be used to treat vaginal yeast infections - which shouldn't be listened to according to Dr Jennifer Gunter.
The good doctor has debunked the theory in a series of tweets, claiming that garlic doesn't have any anti-fungal properties beyond the confines of Petri dish.
In fact, she warns that the vagina could serve as the ideal environment for the growth of dangerous botulism bacteria.
In an eight-part thread - using the hashtag #vaginaisanogarliczone - the author of a book called The Vagina Bible explained the dangers of mixing garlic and vaginas.
Why you should not put garlic in your vagina.
A thread.
Garlic contains allicin, in THE LAB it MAY have antifungal (i.e. anti yeast) properties. This is in a lab, not even in mice. Just a dish of cells. Your vagina is not a dish of cells. #vaginaisanogarliczone 1/8— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
Lots of vaginal garlic aficionados (I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO TWEET THAT IN 2019, BUT HERE WE ARE) recommend inserting a clove. This means they don't understand for allicin to be released the garlic has to be cut or crushed. Sigh. #vaginaisanogarliczone 2/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
"Garlic could have bacteria from the soil. Bacteria from the soil can be pathogenic - bad for the body. That's why we clean wounds. If you actually happen to have an inflamed yeasty vagina that soil bacteria would be more likely to infect #vaginaisanogarliczone", she said.
Garlic could have bacteria from the soil. Bacteria from the soil can be pathogenic -- bad for the body. That's why we clean wounds. If you actually happen to have an inflamed yeasty vagina that soil bacteria would be more likely to infect #vaginaisanogarliczone 3/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
So for garlic to work you would have to crush it and stuff it up somehow. There is still the dirt thing. And the cut up garlic on raw tissues thing (OUCH). And the fishing of the garlic out by the gyno thing. #vaginaisanogarliczone 4/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
Dr Gunter warned that garlic could potentially lead to the development of harmful biofilms in the vagina, before claiming that those who believe in the home remedy probably never had a yeast infection in the first place, or recovered naturally.
Garlic can cause biofilms on braces, so could garlic contribute to biofilms in the vagina? Biologically plausible. Biofilms are bad. You do not want them to form especially when you have yeast. Effect of garlic good bacteria also unknown #vaginaisanogarliczone 5/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
As 50-70% of women who self treat for vaginal yeast never actually had a yeast infection you can't say much, except half of them never had yeast to begin with so the irritation they had may have been a temporary thing and resolving wasn't garlic related #vaginaisanogarliczone 6/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
And the placebo effect is strong. If you think vaginal garlic is going to make you feel better, you may very well feel better temporarily. #vaginaisanogarliczone 7/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
My advice, do not take medical advice from anyone recommending vaginal garlic for yeast or anything else. If you enjoyed this thread, you will like my book The Vagina Bible (August 27) #vaginaisanogarliczone https://t.co/G3azTcxTaI 8/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
I’m adding one more tweet.
You know why you refrigerate home made garlic vinaigrette? So any clostridium bacteria laying around on the garlic doesn’t produce botulinum toxin. Right. The vagina is an anaerobic environment, so perfect for clostridium. You’re welcome. 9/8— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
And in case you want more of a run down I have written about what not to put in your vagina for @NYTStyles https://t.co/e2y6dQ6gkC 10/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
And she wasn't done yet, finishing with one more piece of valuable advice:
Also, don’t put a cucumber in your vagina. You know, in case you were wondering.
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 24, 2019
