Video: 'HPV diet' aims to prevent cervical cancer

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The HPV vaccine may offer one way to prevent cervical cancer, but it's only for young women. There are other ways women can reduce their risks and using food is one of them. One doctor calls it the HPV diet.

"The HPV virus by itself doesn't cause cancer," says Dr. Lynne Eldridge. "What it does is it causes this chronic inflammation."

Eldridge wrote the book "Avoiding Cancer One Day at a Time." She says the good news is HPV isn't a forever-virus like herpes.

"Most people clear the virus and never cause a problem," said Eldridge.

In 90% of cases, the body's immune system clears the HPV infection naturally within two years.

Fifty-percent of sexually-active Americans will be infected with HPV during their lifetimes. In 90 percent of those cases, the body's immune system clears the infection within two years. But studies show you can speed up that process by eating certain types of fruits and vegetables.

Diets high in vitamin A, vitamin C, lutein, a lot of if you think of the yellow vegetables, pumpkin, red peppers are wonderful for accelerating clearance of the virus," said Eldridge.

Eldridge calls it the HPV diet because the quicker you can get rid of the virus the better. Eat foods high in these nutrients. Lutein: spinach, kale and collard greens. Beta-cryptoxanthin: red peppers and papaya. Vitamin C basic: oranges, grapefruits and peaches. Vitamin A: carrots and sweet potatoes. Lycopene: tomatoes, especially in sauces, and watermelon.

On the other hand, smoking prolongs HPV infection, as does using tampons.

So maybe if you've had an abnormal pap smear and been tested and you have high-risk HPV, perhaps switch to sanitary napkins until your next pap smear and see if it's cleared.

And that's another important point: Even women who've received the HPV vaccine still need to get routine pap smears since the vaccine does not offer 100 percent protection.