Beware the chemical companies

I was fortunate enough (at least related to this topic) to grow up before antibiotics were all the rage, antibacterial every-damn-thing, and such. We played in the dirt, fell off our bikes, scraped knees and elbows, got hit by a baseball, etc. "It's part of being a kid" so we were appropriately cleaned, bandaids applied, and sent back outside. I am then fortunate to have an amazing immune system because of it. (Now, someone mentioned public buffets, and to that point - I don't go looking for trouble. As a classroom trainer, one of the things I taught besides computers was actually food safety. Yeah - I don't go to buffets anymore. I'm very tidy at home and work, dishes done, food put away, etc) Let kids play in the dirt, be outside in fresh air, ride their bikes! Let them be kids and don't be helicopter parents!

We are actually made of of colonies of a lot of different things living a product symbiosis. Bathing too frequently with harsh soaps, applying certain chemicals, etc., is harmful to those bacteria who share our space intimately. Recent estimates of the number of critters in the human microbiata compared to the number of human cells is between 3:1 and 1:1. Treat you microbiota well.

[sciencedirect.com]

The soil is actually good for you for a start. if you take away all the germs your body has no reason to produce antibodies for them. look at native peoples with no access to all the cleaning things we take for granted or wild animals.

It’s absolu true. There is such a thing as being too clean. Kids have to dirty and even get sick to help their immune systems start working. Third world countries have far fewer cases of auto-immune diseases than First world countries. Being too clean makes our immune systems weak and in order to do its job, it eventually starts attacking anything it can. Thus, auto-immune.

However, I’m firmly about hygiene. I take a shower every day, I wash my hands after using the bathroom, and I cook my food to proper temperatures. However, if I get some dirt on me while I’m working, I let it stay there. When I was in the Army, I wasn’t picky about where or what I ate. Dirt and hygiene are both great, in moderation.

To a degree that is true.; It is the exposure to pathogens that builds up natural resistance to them.

We evolved beign exposed to germs in childhood, and as we are exposed to them we build up immunitites. So,yes, over doing the cleanliness can be harmful in the long term. Simply because not beign exposed at an early age to soem things leaves our immune system weak.

As the saying goes, "What doesn't kil us makes us stronger."

I think that a Howard Hughes obsession with hygene is an extreme example of being overly clean. I have a friend whom I seldom visit because she has severe OCD and I refuse to support her ritualistic nonsense because of her obsession with germs. We are walking bacterial factories.

Clean is an illusion. We are more bacteria than human anyway, inside and out.

I agree!

I shower every morning and in evening that's just me but yes I believe you can be to clean

A good day in the mud should be enjoyed by everyone gardening ,fishing, hiking. If more of us could take part we might be healthier and enjoy the wonders of nature.

Yes you need to build up your kids immune system . These anti bacterial detergents are causing a lot of problems

Yes kids should be kids. I had my own sand pit for my tractors and bulldozers. Climbed many a tree.

Everything in moderation. We need to expose ourselves to germs so we can train our immune system. That does’t mean go play in the dumpster behind the hospital though.

I do not know how factual it is, but I have read in medical articles that being too sterile and germ free makes our immune system lazy and subject to easier infections.

Yes it strengthens their immune system. Get a dog.