Is there such a thing as being too clean?

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
I've heard that people that bathe excessively and keep their house disinfected actually have poorer immune systems and get sick more frequently than other people.

This makes sense to me because people that clean all the time aren't exposed to germs that would keep their immune systems working.

When did we get so mysophobic?
 

I think it is the past 20 years or so. Even using hand sanitizer too much is bad for us. Now that I think of it, I am not sure how or why it happened. But, is it just me, or does it seem the super clean stuff goes hand in hand with the increase in food allergies in kids?
I mean when I was a kid, I played outside all day, and as long as I washed my hands when I came in for lunch, that was good enough.
 
My grandmother always said "You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die!!!"

This advice is from one of Uncle Sam's training booklets in 1945!

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debodun said:
I've heard that people that bathe excessively and keep their house disinfected actually have poorer immune systems and get sick more frequently than other people.
Click to expand...

I think that is correct. Our "immune" system can only remain active if we "nurture" it. Certainly basic hygiene is necessary, but if a person wants to constantly "sanitize" themselves, the immune system has nothing to work with. Then, the first time a person comes in contact with germs, they get ill. Things like this Flu vaccine are just an attempt to energize the immune system, artificially...but normal exposure, on a continuing basis would probably be more effective, and allow the body to maintain its own defense systems without artificial stimulation.
 
I think when you are more exposed to dirt and germs as a baby and young child, it helps you build a strong immune system. As a kid I played in the dirt and on the sidewalks, and like Marie, my mom made me wash my hands before eating and that was good enough. Back then though, there wasn't so many people around, or so many weird diseases either, so I think parents of today might be a little bit more careful about protecting their children, but it may be backfiring on them in the long run.
 
When I was a kid, our neighbor stripped her kids the minute they got home from school, had them in the bathtub in soapy water and laundered their clothes immediately. Talking about OCD cleanliness!

I, too, played in the sandbox and mud puddles when I was a kid. I had my share of sniffles, but got over them much more quickly that it seemed others did. Modern moms would have a brain hemorrhage if they caught their kids playing in DIRT!
 
I got every sickness under the sun when I was a child. My mother kept the house pretty clean but I think I just caught the illnesses from other kids.
 
The overuse of antibiotics has resulted in a germ natural selection process that has produced the "superbugs" of today. We barely stay a step ahead of them with constant research.

As far as the OCD bathing thing goes...my wife works in the school system where lice and bedbugs can be transferred. She's seen people go nuts dealing with the situation. Also, we live in the boonies where deer ticks will give you Lyme disease...we bathe a lot and make sure the kids do too.


 

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