(ORDO NEWS) — An American doctor has not washed his body with soap for five years. He believes that an obsession with cleanliness harms the skin microbiome.
Dr. James Hamblin decided to give up soap when he first moved into a studio apartment in Brooklyn to pursue journalism instead of a medical career. He is not currently a doctor, but lectures at the Yale School of Public Health and is also a medical writer and podcaster for The Atlantic.
Why did he decide to give up soap?
One reason is to cut costs and save time. According to Hamblin, if a person bathes for about half an hour every day, then in his life he spends two whole years doing this occupation.
However, the main reason is biological. Doctor take care of skin microbiome.
According to Hamblin, giving up soap is a kind of experiment that should show that a large amount of hygiene harms the skin microbiome that maintains human health.
What is the skin microbiome?
In recent years, scientists have increasingly written about the gut microbiome. For example, disorders in it are associated with sleep problems and even lung diseases.
Relatively recently, researchers have also turned their attention to the skin microbiome and how it affects human health.
Some scientists believe that showering too often damages our own microbiomes, including potentially beneficial bacteria that play an important role in skin health. There is even evidence that conditions such as acne may be partly due to disruption of the skin microbiome.
It’s important to note that Hamblin hasn’t stopped washing his hands with soap, especially amid the pandemic.
After five years of not using shower gels, soaps and deodorants, the doctor found that he began to smell less strongly than in the years when he constantly showered with them.
“My skin gradually became less oily and I had fewer eczema patches. I no longer smelled like lavender or fir, but I also stopped smelling the onion smell that I smelled when my armpits, accustomed to deodorant, suddenly went through a day without it, ”Hamblin told The Guardian .
However, the doctor is in no hurry to make recommendations.
“I am not here to recommend this approach to everyone. In many ways, it was terrible. But it also changed my life,” Hamblin explains.
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