Dirt is actually good for you!

Again we have come across a very interesting topic-Dirt. Everyone may think dirt is bad for them and causes allergies. Yes, that is true but amazingly, there wasn't anything known as allergy back in the 1900s! When people get flu, they always blame dirt but amazingly, the culprit is their own hygiene obsessed lifestyle. Reduced access to bacteria and parasitic worms are actually damaging our immune system instead. As a result, the body's defenses have become dangerously over-sensitive to things. In the 1980s, only 10% of our population suffer from Allergies, now, there is more than 30%.! 

Many people would think that allergies are due to Carpeted homes, furry pets, toys etc but the main culprit here is our immune system! Whenever one uses hand sanitizer, mask to ward off bacteria and viruses, one is actually increasing his/her chances of falling ill! That is why people who had serious illnesses during childhood stand a less chance of getting allergies when they grow up. Without exposure to microbes, our immune system attacks otherwise harmless foreign molecules. That is why people working and growing on farms have a far smaller chance than their counterparts of developing allergies. Microbes from animal faeces, grass dust or milk guard against our immune regulation problems.

Another example is that while everyone would think that Babies in  Africa would have developed more allergies than the babies in Sweden, it is actually the direct opposite as the babies in Africa naturally have a stronger immune system due to everyday exposure to bacteria and viruses. So next time, when you family or kid comes home with muddy hands, do not scold him because the mud may stand to bring more good into the family than bad! I hope my article has given you a better insight to as how microbes like bacteria can actually benefit yo ur life instead of making you fall sick. Next time, whenever, you fall ill or come down with flu, flame it on being so obsessed with hygiene instead of all the dust, dirt and bacteria living around you! Allow your immune system to have more experience in fighting these germs to make your body more resistant to these germs!