Is Hygiene Overrated?

 

By Kim Marquardt, RN MSN

This blog post is from the Nurse Kim archives of myth busting. I want to share some "alternative" or maybe just lesser known health and wellness viewpoints for you to chew on.

*These posts are not intended as official medical advice.

They ARE meant to be fun, informative, and thought provoking, hopefully sparking an interest for you to do your own research (you can start with the links I provide!) and discover the marvels of the human body, and how it can function at its optimal performance level if we understand how it works and interacts with our environment and our diet.

I have a passion for health and wellness through lifestyle and nutrition and have done thousands of hours of research in addition to being a registered nurse for 23 years. I have done A LOT of self-experimentation in and around diet, lifestyle, body care, and supplementation and have spent a lot of time looking into the science behind it all (or lack thereof!). Check back weekly for the latest post!

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Let's Jump In!

I dare you to skip the shower and maybe even your deodorant today. Let your body be, and consider that we are an incredibly over washed, over deodorized society. It's true. Have you ever heard someone complain after visiting another country about the bodily odor of people that live there? Americans are notorious for thinking everyone else stinks, and this is because we have been walking around doused in chemical deodorant and perfumes, masking the natural smell of the human body and are therefore unaccustomed to it.

The Microbiome

You may have heard of the human “microbiome.” The microbiome is made up of the microorganisms that live on and in us and allow us to survive in our environment. Without these microscopic bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses – we would not be able to digest our food, have an immune system, synthesize vitamins including B12, K, thiamin, and riboflavin, among other vital functions. But your microbiome is not just inside, it's all over the outside of your body as well. Let’s consider how scrubbing with soap (or more likely chemical detergents since most soaps/body washes on the market today are not real soap) and then dousing ourselves with chemical powders, potions, and perfumes every day or twice a day, might affect this delicate balance.

Pretty much everyone at this point has heard that less hair washing is better for your hair and scalp. Why wouldn’t this be true for the rest of your skin and body? Maybe we should consider chilling out a little on the chemical dousing, and let our wonderful microbiome do its job instead of killing it off daily. You might be surprised at the eventual results of less scrubbing, deodorizing, and general sanitizing. 

This might shock some of you, but my teenage kids (16, 18) don't shower every day. And they only occasionally use an all-natural deodorant (not a chemical antiperspirant) if they need it. Neither of them has BO of any kind, even when my older one was running track! All I hear about from other people that have teenage kids is how horrible they smell. This has never been the case with us. Now some of it is certainly related to genetics and diet (a topic for another blog), but some of it is related to letting your body work in your favor by not over doing hygiene.

Toxic Body Care

So, leaving our microbiome alone might be a good idea, but let’s talk about why some of our hygiene practices are actually a double whammy. I’m talking about toxic body care products. We now use so many chemical laden body care products that the average American is exposed to roughly 127 potentially toxic chemicals in a daily morning routine. At the very least, we need to read the ingredient labels of our products and get back to basics using real, simple soap, and non-toxic alternative deodorizing products, the less ingredients, the better. The fact of the matter is your skin absorbs everything you put on it into your bloodstream. So, when you read your body wash label, read it with the perspective of opening up the bottle, and drinking it down as that’s essentially what you are doing, minus the stomach ache.

Antibacterial Soap

Now let’s talk about anti-bacterial soap. The FDA is even on the bandwagon with this one, suggesting we “Skip Antibacterial Soap and Use Plain Soap and Water.” Why? “Because the manufacturers haven’t proven that those ingredients are safe for daily use over a long period of time.”

As if that's not shocking enough, from the FDA no less, did you know that childhood leukemia is now being linked to over doing hygiene? Yeah. Remember when kids used to crawl around on the floor and touch (eat) dirt outside? Well now they are put in sterilized baby bouncers and sanitized shopping carts. Turns out, the dirt and grime are what built our immune systems. Oops. One article cites that “exposure to germs in early life helps to prime the immune system, and that later infection in genetically predisposed individuals with unprimed immune systems is what triggers leukemia.” Yikes. So this is a little more serious than whether or not we smell like roses.

So, what to do?

Should we never shower again? Never wash? Never smell nice? No! We don’t do extremes - remember?! But while we are talking about “never” I will give you a few of those:

Never...

• Never wear chemical perfume. What is a chemical perfume you ask? The expensive kind that doesn’t list the ingredients because they are “proprietary.” Your wallet and health will thank you. If you need to smell good get some essential oils or rose water.
• Never use chemical sunscreen, choose mineral sunscreen if needed.
• Never wash with antibacterial soap or antibacterial cleaning products. Basic soap for the body and vinegar and lemon juice (or lemon oil) for your environment is all you need to clean up most of the time. Again, your wallet and health will thank you.

A few things to try:

• Try taking fewer showers (like, just a couple per week). If you sweat a lot, just rinse off quickly, and only soap up your pits and bits.
• Consider switching from a chemical antiperspirant (pretty much all the name brands we are used to) to a natural deodorant. A couple of my favorites: Magsol (absolute #1), Native, and Schmidt's. Better yet, and more wallet friendly, dust yourself off with some baking soda or arrowroot powder, or make a "fancier" easy and affordable homemade deodorant.   
• Check ingredient labels and follow a "less is more" philosophy. Try to avoid the known hormone disruptors and cancer causing ones like Parabens, Phthalates, “Fragrance,” Petroleum Jelly, Oxybenzone, and Formaldehyde.

That is all for this week! Go get dirty and have some fun!