Why we shouldn’t be putting food in our vaginas (according to science)

While we sat through Fifty Shades Freed, we couldn't help but grimace when Jamie Dornan (with a mouth full of ice cream) decided to give Dakota Johnson a treat.

The first thing that came to our mind was nothing sexy – it was how unsanitary it must be to have ice cream in your vagina. 

Seriously though, surely having dairy inserted into your vagina is a recipe for a nasty yeast infection?

Anyway, we decided to look into it, and discover the truth behind the myth – should we put food in our vaginas?

The gorgeous folks at Vulture spoke with a gynaecologist about the ins and outs (excuse the pun) of putting food in your lady region. 

“Let me start by saying that this has never been studied in any kind of a scientific study. But in general, we don’t put food in the vagina,” said Lauren Streicher, director of the Northwestern Medicine Centre for Sexual Medicine.

In reference to the actual ice cream scene from Fifty Shades, Lauren said:

“Theoretically, could that throw off her normal flora and cause an infection? Absolutely. It’s sugar and milk, things that do not go in the vagina. But will that happen with a one-time thing? Who knows. The answer is: I don’t know, but in general, I’d say don’t put food in someone’s vagina.”

The next query? If there was to be a vagina friendly food, what would it be? 

"So, for example, a banana that’s not peeled could be potentially safe," she says. "A cucumber could be potentially safe, as long as it’s not going to break off or scratch you. But there have not been good scientific studies done on putting food inside of you."

Spoiler alert: after the ice cream situation in the film, there's talk of an actual spoon being inserted somewhere. 

“Cutlery is not good in the vagina,” I mean, no shit. 

“Particularly knives and forks would be frowned upon. A spoon is a little different. If, for example, a gynaecologist put a spoon in the vagina, that’d be fine, because we would know how to put a spoon in the vagina without causing an injury. As a sweeping generalization, I’d say cutlery would be frowned upon in the gynaecologic world.”

So, ultimately, live your best life and do your thing – but don't be surprised if it results in an infection.