It has been centuries since people used to bath twice a year or clean up themselves only for special occasions. With the growing industry there is water and cleaning products for everyone.
Hand sanitizers, body washes, shampoos, millions of different scented soaps and wet wipes. Once was a luxury now is a necessity.
We hear everyday how important to keep our body clean. we read it in the magazines, see it on TV, even restaurants and every public restrooms has signs that says ‘Please Wash Your Hands’.
We use hand sanitizers after touching anything that has ever touched by someone, people wipe or wash their hands after they shake hands. Kissing people on the cheek was once a polite way to greet someone now people are scared to touch each other.
We wash the newly bought clothing before we put on. We wash pre-washed groceries.
Our older generations used to roll around and play in the dirt but now we are so scared that something is going to happen we don’t even let our kids outside of the house. That 3 second rule is a history once its on the floor you better toss it now.
But what does all this cleaning do to our body.
Can our obsession with being clean actually hurt us?
Writing in The New York Times last week, Human Food Project founder Jeff D. Leach defended the idea of “dirtying up our diets.” We may have developed vaccines for diseases like polio and smallpox, but Leach says that our obsession with being clean could actually leave us vulnerable to other unpleasant conditions, including autoimmune disorders.
His argument is based on the idea that coming into contact with the microorganisms — or tiny living things — found in the world around us can help our bodies learn to protect themselves more effectively against disease. The more our bodies deal with microorganisms like those in dirt, he says, the easier it is for us to fight off the ones that might make us sick. At least, that’s how many humans made it through before the days of “hand sanitizer and wet wipes.” One of his practical recommendations: get produce from local farmers’ markets instead of big-box superstores, when you can.
He is not saying that we should abandon being clean, just saying that next time you are in the grocery shop think twice before you reach to that shiny green salad which already has been washed three times … just because it looks pretty and clean doesn’t mean that it is the healthiest option.
