Dirt is good!

[dhermann1]

More proof that things were better in the old days. Well, sort of, anyway.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27brod.html?_r=1&em

 

[Foofoogal]

Reminds me of the guy who was recalling his raising of his 3 children as babies with his wife.
1st. baby:Sterilized everything.
2nd. baby:not so much but clean.
3rd. baby:Hey, your kid is outside eating dirt! He stated: Is it clean dirt?

I made more mudpies than I care to count. I was a master mudpie expert. Flowers, stones, sticks. etc.
Feel very sorry for the child who does not get to play in the mud at least sometimes.

 

[Paisley]

I haven't been sick since I got my dog a year and a half ago. She used to be stray, and she hangs around me like a shadow. Maybe she gave me worms!

 

[Sunny]

Fascinating! Foofoogal, my parents had a very similar saying, specifically related to the pacifier - or "plug," as it's known in our house.

What do you do when the baby drops his plug on the ground?
Baby 1 - Boil it.
Baby 2 - Wash it with soap and water.
Baby 3 - Spit clean.
Baby 4 and up - Stick it right back in.

By that argument, the firstborns should have the health issues and the youngest kids be disgustingly healthy!

 

[Mojito]

My sister - and mother of three - adheres to the "a little dirt is good for you" philosophy. I don't know which was more influential - having the kiddies who *love* being grubby, or her work with a scientist who is a leader in this field (bacteriology? Not sure) and who insists we need some exposure to build up resistance.

It was an idea we grew up with, though. One of our family tragedies concerned my -Great-Great Aunt who had a baby girl in the first decade of the 1900s. She adored the child, and - as my grandmother put it - would not let her feet touch dirt. She was carried and coddled and kept spotlessly clean.

She died (of diptheria, I believe it was) when still a toddler. My grandmother's generation always attributed it to the child never having been exposed to anything that could have built up resistance. Nana was a very clean person with extremely tidy housekeeping habits, but she believed firmly that children should be allowed to be exposed to some dirt.

The Great-Great Aunt lived to be a couple of months short of 100. She and her husband had no other children. I used to visit her back in the 80s, when she was almost completely incapacitated, wheelchair bound and cared for by one of her great-nephews...I vividly remember her sitting in a room unchanged since the 1920s or so, with framed photos of her little daughter on the shelf next to her.

 

[Dr Doran]

I read this article a few hours ago in the NY Times! Vintage minds think alike.

We carefully and deliberately* raise The Egghead in a Third World method: constant exposure to low-level germs, plus three cats.






*A lie -- we are just too busy AND LAZY to clean.

 

[Lady Day]

Dr. Ruebush deplores the current fetish for the hundreds of antibacterial products that convey a false sense of security and may actually foster the development of antibiotic-resistant, disease-causing bacteria. Plain soap and water are all that are needed to become clean, she noted.

...

Dr. Weinstock goes even further. “Children should be allowed to go barefoot in the dirt, play in the dirt, and not have to wash their hands when they come in to eat,” he said. He and Dr. Elliott pointed out that children who grow up on farms and are frequently exposed to worms and other organisms from farm animals are much less likely to develop allergies and autoimmune diseases.

Also helpful, he said, is to “let kids have two dogs and a cat,” which will expose them to intestinal worms that can promote a healthy immune system.

I abhor antibacterial ANYTHING. I always thought it was a joke. If you kill all bacteria, then the good ones are not there, which leaves for exposure to the bad ones. Duh!

NO wonder my brother and I dont have allergies. We ate outside WHILE playing in dirt (mmm, mud pies with grass shavings, so gourmet) and had more dogs and cats than I can count. I just stick my face in my cats fur and BREATH it in from time to time.

He smells good

LD

 

[LizzieMaine]

I just stick my face in my cats fur and BREATH it in from time to time.

He smells good

LD

Don't ALL people do that? I mean, jeez, isn't that what cats are for?

What amuses me is that the people who slather themselves in antibacterials are the ones who're always getting sick. And me with my soap and water, I haven't sicked out from work in over four years.

 

[dhermann1]

Ironic, in the age of terror, we seem to need to terrorize ourselves unnecessarily. Or: We have nothing to fear but fear itself!

 

[Miss Sis]

I have never believed in this 'anti-bacterial' crap, but I'm afraid I have had a cough or cold almost constantly since October last year.

Not because I never clean, I do with normal cleaning products, but because I work with small children who just LOVE to give you every germ going!

Time to get a new dog or cat! Just tell the BF "It's for the good of my health!"

 

[Foofoogal]

but I'm afraid I have had a cough or cold almost constantly since October last year.

you need to eat lots of greens in winter like collards, mustard, turnip etc. or at least drink the juice (pot liquor) It breaks up all the yuck I promise.

 

[DeaconKC]

My Mom had a little sign in our kitchen growing up:
"This house is clean enough to be healthy. and dirty enough to be happy."

 

[PuLpO]

Thats right.