Water and Soap
I read sites like this and I can't help but wonder if anyone still undestands the concept of an immune system. The link summarised briefly points out what a scam drinking water is when sold in bottles for the price of an expensive drink. We know that water costs peanuts when taken from home and our taps. Usually in the Civilized world, this water is far in excess of potable standards. In fact the manufacturers know that too. What we pay for instead is the supposed peace of mind that comes from having our drinking water come from a sterile inspected source, therefore guarenteeing that it is free of the nasty microbiological that can so drastically undermine our quality of life.
I have the same difficulty with anti-bacterial soaps that actually incorporate active anti-bacterial agents into them that are designed to eliminate the microbes, another marketing offspring to cater to the Human Protection Movement What they are doing is clearing off the benign bacteria on theingredients surface of the skin that often has the important function of taking up so many resources that nothing really nasty can get the toehold that it requires to flourish. Instead we use the nuclear option, reset the growth area to a dead wasteland and require that all species grow again from scratch, presuming that the good will regrow at the same speed or faster then the evil. A further worry is evidence that all bacteria is evolving to develop immunity to these common anti-bacterials, making them useless when we might actually have a reason to kill the bacteria other then the thought of 'Ick!! Germs.". Now I'll admit that the actual evidence so far is that this is not the case, but the same surveys also confirm that plain old soap is just as good as the $50.00 soap from some premium brand with its fancy anti-bacterial features.
As I understand it, immune systems function by identifying and eliminating hostile bacteria. And the more they are exposed to the stronger it gets and the better it becomes at doing its job. The more hostile bacteria it operates against, the better the overall systemic response is. It has its own systems that help determine what is dangerous and what is benign. We are depednant on benign bacteria for large parts of the digestive process and they do a pretty important job in other parts of our body as well to keep us waking up from day to day. Hygenic conditions are important but lost somewhere in the marketing mulch is the understanding that a little bit of dirt is equally important. You need to be exposed to a little systemic upset to keep everything in top gear, yet this significant fact seems to be totally forgotten by all those who should keep it in their sights, and especially by neurotic parents, determined that somehow they will prevent their child from suffering any harm at all.
I have the same difficulty with anti-bacterial soaps that actually incorporate active anti-bacterial agents into them that are designed to eliminate the microbes, another marketing offspring to cater to the Human Protection Movement What they are doing is clearing off the benign bacteria on theingredients surface of the skin that often has the important function of taking up so many resources that nothing really nasty can get the toehold that it requires to flourish. Instead we use the nuclear option, reset the growth area to a dead wasteland and require that all species grow again from scratch, presuming that the good will regrow at the same speed or faster then the evil. A further worry is evidence that all bacteria is evolving to develop immunity to these common anti-bacterials, making them useless when we might actually have a reason to kill the bacteria other then the thought of 'Ick!! Germs.". Now I'll admit that the actual evidence so far is that this is not the case, but the same surveys also confirm that plain old soap is just as good as the $50.00 soap from some premium brand with its fancy anti-bacterial features.
As I understand it, immune systems function by identifying and eliminating hostile bacteria. And the more they are exposed to the stronger it gets and the better it becomes at doing its job. The more hostile bacteria it operates against, the better the overall systemic response is. It has its own systems that help determine what is dangerous and what is benign. We are depednant on benign bacteria for large parts of the digestive process and they do a pretty important job in other parts of our body as well to keep us waking up from day to day. Hygenic conditions are important but lost somewhere in the marketing mulch is the understanding that a little bit of dirt is equally important. You need to be exposed to a little systemic upset to keep everything in top gear, yet this significant fact seems to be totally forgotten by all those who should keep it in their sights, and especially by neurotic parents, determined that somehow they will prevent their child from suffering any harm at all.
2 comments:
Hey Mo, You preach it!!!
I heard someone suggesting we feed our children dirt, literally for the reason that it would be good for there immune system.
May researchers also attribute the huge rise in autoimmune and hypersensitive disorders to living too clean.
An interesting anecdote is that in our graddads eras there was no such thing as hay fever... hay hasnt changed that much ...
A show I watched on TV challenged passers-by to distinguish tap water from bottled ones by taste. No one did better than if they had guessed randomly. Apparently some brands who claims (or makes you believe) they source their water from the Alps actually pumps tap water right into their bottles. For these reasons I never buy bottled water.
My use of soap would probably be negligible compared to a typical person. You'll never smell soap off me after a shower. Soap is for cleaning it's not a perfume. Same with washing dishes. Water is the best cleaning agent; detergent compliments it when the surface is really greasy. Plates with leftover detergent is probably more harmful than "dirty" dishes -- at least rotten food is organic!!
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