It’s hard to believe that it was once commonplace in Western society to dig up your own food, bathe in the same water you drank and walk around completely barefoot.
Fast forward a couple of centuries and all of our soaps are antibacterial, produce comes pre-washed and waxed, and even the air we breathe is filtered.
While sanitation has, grantedly, stopped the spread of many preventable diseases, scientists wonder whether our obsession with hygiene has gone too far. As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bans antibacterial soaps for doing “more harm than good”, we look into the effects of being too clean.
Antiseptics, allergies and asthma.
According to the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, the frequency of allergic disease has just about doubled in the past few decades alone. One in three people will develop allergies and one in 100 will have life-threatening anaphylaxis. Yikes!
While genetics certainly play a part in allergies, evidence suggests that it is also an environmental issue. Industrialised countries have higher reported rates of allergy and asthma compared to countries with poor sanitation (though poor sanitation obviously runs major health risks of its own). Melbourne has the highest rate of food allergies in the world!
Why is this? Well, some scientists believe it’s because we are simply too clean. Dubbed the “hygiene hypothesis”, it’s thought that a lack of early childhood exposure to germs can suppress the immune system and lead to allergies, asthma and inflammatory disease.
Exposure seems to be important from childbirth. A meta-analysis found that children born by C-section instead of vaginal birth had a 20 per cent higher risk of asthma, while using antibiotics in the first year of life is linked to asthma and other allergic diseases.
Soap and superbugs.
If you wash your hands after every encounter with a shopping cart, you could open yourself to bigger illnesses. Many antibacterial soaps contain an ingredient called triclosan (recently banned by the FDA), which some bacteria can become resistant to.
It’s very rare, but scientists worry that this bacterial resistance (“survival of the fittest”) is leading to superbugs, bacteria which cannot be treated with antibiotics. The same issue applies to misuse of antibiotics (and why you always need to take your full course of medications).
Germs and gut health.
We’ve spoken plenty about how to keep your gut happy and healthy (to recap, eat real food, get plenty of probiotics and cut out junk to keep your microbiome in good shape). But strict hygiene may also play a part. Again, babies born by C-section show delays in populating gut bacteria.
To help the microbiome, experts recommend being cautious with antibiotic use… and getting a dog. YES! One study shows that dirty, germy dogs may increase our gut biodiversity!
Conclusion: a little dirt won’t hurt.
While the obvious exceptions would be if you’re immunocompromised, living in an area with poor sanitation, performing surgery or cutting raw chicken, it’s good to get down and dirty from time to time. So:
- Don’t rely on antibacterial soap… The FDA recommends washing hands with plain soap and water, and if you need a deeper clean, a hand sanitiser with at least 70 per cent alcohol.
- Buy your produce with dirt on… The farmer’s markets are the best place to find produce as it was meant to be (covered in dirt and maybe a bug or two). Often, it’s naturally organic, too!
- Be careful with antibiotics… If you must take antibiotics, take the full course and make sure you take plenty of probiotics afterwards.
- Go outside… Yes! Dig in the dirt. Swim in a river. Walk barefoot. Get back to nature!
- Buy a puppy… You know, for your, er, gut health.
Do you think we’re too clean for our own good?
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