Be warned: what you're about to read may be disgusting to you, but it's true, and at least it's something you can ponder upon.
A scientist has decided to make her own yogurt, but this is not the regulars you see in grocery shops. It's not even straight out of any organic recipe. Her primary ingredient, after all, is her very own vaginal secretions.
Cecilia Westbrook has become the woman of the hour for mixed reasons ever since her story first appeared in Motherboard. A friend, Janet Jay, wrote about how their curiosity eventually compelled the scientist, who is also completing her PhD in Wisconsin, to set out this very interesting experiment.
It all started with an e-mail where Westbrook expressed her mild frustration over the lack of any recipe that tells how to culture "jazz juice."
According to the article published on February 9, Westbrook decided to create her own by collecting her secretions using a wooden spoon. She then combined both positive and negative control (actual yogurt and plain pure milk) before adding her own ingredient.
Aside from being grossed out, you want to know the logic. It's common knowledge, at least in the health community, that the vagina has its own bacterial flora. It has thousands of microbes that are all working together to keep the environment down there healthy. They also prevent any harmful virus or bacteria from entering your body through your vagina.
One of these bacteria is called lactobacillus, the same culture used when you're creating cheese and, yes, yogurt.
However, experts suggest that while the theory works, in reality, Westbrook may have collected more than lactobacillus but also other live bacteria, and even one of these bacteria can alter the benefits of eating yogurt, including eating something with pathogens. The practice is also strongly discouraged by Food and Drug Administration.
The writer ends by saying that Westbrook doesn't plan in making any more of the "yogurt," although she already had made two.
