As if talking about the vagina isn’t awkward enough, leave it to Dr. Mehmet Oz to come prepared with some crazy facts—plus one bizarre sexual demonstration you never knew you needed.
He sat down with the ladies of The Real Wednesday to answer their burning questions for a segment eloquently titled ‘What’s Up Down There?’
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But do gynecologists agree with what the doctor has to say about our lady parts? Check out his claims stacked against others’ research below to get all the *hairy* details.
You are what you eat.
“We’ve all heard that eating pineapple can help with your situation down there…” co-host Adrienne Houghton began, admitting that she and the other married ladies on the panel had gone on ‘pineapple diets’ before their weddings to make things a little sweeter down below.
Dr. Oz claims that everything you eat changes the smell and the taste in and around your vagina—and it’s true for the guys, too!
“Any fluid you concentrate in your body is going to taste more like the things you eat than the things you don’t,” he explained. “That’s why you can smell it in your sweat sometimes.”
Other research sort of backs up Oz’s claims. One study found that eating large amounts of pineapple makes your lady bits taste sweeter, but it also says that, regardless of what people eat, men enjoy the taste of women more than women like the taste of men. Surprised? Us either.
Overall, the claim that pineapple will transform your natural scent isn’t widely researched, but it certainly can’t hurt. Just don’t expect to eat one serving and immediately smell like a tropical paradise; instead, eat or drink pineapple and its juices days before an evening of expert-level romance. Slurp, slurp!
MORE: Are You Washing Your Vagina All Wrong?
What’s the true purpose of pubic hair?
Dr. Oz also blessed the ladies with a little knowledge about the true purpose of pubic hair, demonstrating it awkwardly on co-host Loni Love’s arm.
The ladies asked, “Does shaving or waxing affect our health down there, and which one is better?” Dr. Oz pointed out that, while neither are necessarily bad for you, shaving tends to cause more cuts and you hear more complications from them.
“But I aways wonder why women do all that, because there’s really a purpose for that there,” Oz admits.
Though the co-host believed pubic hair was meant to protect our lady parts during the ‘jungle’ days, Oz shut that down with a more sexually-oriented explanation.
“You know what it was for? Lubrication… When you have someone near you, and you both have pubic hair, it glides better,” the doctor says. He proceeds to rub his ‘hairy’ arms against Loni Love’s arms, then rubs her again with the backside of his arm. Based on her reaction, he just might be on to something!
But are pubes really there for the ultimate friction diffuser?
Many scientists think pubic hair holds pheromones—chemicals your body produces to attract others. “One theory is that you produce pheromones which your pubic hair then traps. It does make sense that the smell from pubic hair can sexually entice your partner,” Sherry Ross, M.D., tells Self.
But Dr. Oz will be glad to know that Ross mentions his theory, too, as well as the protection from dirt theory!
MORE: Celebrities Get Real About Taking Care of the Hair ‘Down There’
You’re visiting the gynecologist too often.
When asked how often women should visit the gynecologist for a routine exam, Dr. Oz said women between the ages of 21-65 should have a pap smear once every three years! And if you do an HPV test, Oz says you can even go longer without an exam. “You don’t have to do it more than that because if you did have a cancer, it wouldn’t grow fast enough to cause you a problem,” he says.
MORE: Chances Are You’re Focusing on All the Wrong Things at Your Gyno Exams
Have we been dealing with that uncomfortable speculum every year for no reason?!
This updated way of thinking has been approved by both the American Cancer Society and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. If your doctor still books a pap smear appointment for you every year, ask why and talk to them about your options!
[H/T: Robert Voets /Warner Bros. Television]
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