I feel like this is one of my main talking points in life - we are meant to be covered in bacteria. Many of these things were drilled into my head by my immunology professor in college. He is the reason I eschew all anti-bacterial soaps & hand sanitizer. I also know someone who was a little too OCD with the hand sanitizer and ended up with warts all over their hands.
Again, as a society we are being short-sighted so we don't see the big picture and the harm it is causing. I look forward to more posts on this topic.
I think one of the biggest problems is that we don't consider how all of our actions can have ramifications on our microbiome. Instead, it's as if we focus on the harmful and deadly pathogens without realizing that our good bacteria help fend off these pathogens. It's a shame that none of this was considered and we may be dealing with ramifications due to these narrow minded actions.
I was just talking to my daughter about this yesterday! She's studying cell structure (8th grade) and was grossed out by the paramecium's flagellum. So we started talking about bacteria and I tried to explain the microbiome but the idea that bacteria were all over and inside her was too much :) I did bring up the issue of antibacterial soap and Purell, etc. adversely affecting our microbiomes and how soap and water is much better than using Purell. This generation, esp. after Covid, loves their Purell!
Gross is probably the intended reflex for having kids constantly wash and disinfect! It reminds me of an episode of a children's show called Recess (showing my age again) where the children learn about germs and one of the students freaks out about germs being everywhere, leading him to want to eradicate all of the germs on the school playground. One way to encourage this sterile behavior was to pass around a picture of a kid's foot caused by germs. I just find it funny how such tactics seem rather commonplace.
With most soaps the action is generally physical/mechanical, in that the soap should help remove debris and the bacteria, although the soap may help break up the membranes as well. So soap should help remove the bacteria first. With antibacterial soap and alcohol part of its effect comes from chemically killing the bacteria rather than removing the bacteria, which causes some of the problems.
I told both kids tonight at dinner that washing with soap & water before lunch at school is better than Purell. They both said “but Purell is so much faster.” I’ll keep trying!
Good luck! The problem is that we are a culture of impulsivity and immediacy. Sometimes it's good to take some time rather than going for the quick fix, and it's probably better for us in the long run!
So I've tried looking up a few things and will try having a post in the future, but the restoration/maintenance of the microbiome is complex.
First, there's no knowledge as to what an "ideal" microbiome should be. Everyone's microbiome is likely to be influenced by age, sex, diet, health, and geographical region. Given how varied everyone's diet is throughout the world it's hard to figure out what microbiome would be ideal for what individual.
Second, most studies focus on the gut microbiome. It appears this is the biggest focus of research. However, we know that there are bacteria that reside in our lungs, sinuses, mouth, throat, skin, urinary tract, uterus, etc. It's likely that each region of our body hosts different microbes, and part of the issue with dysbiosis is that microbes from one region may transfect to other regions and become pathogenic. Some evidence suggests this may be what happens during a respiratory infection, where the microbes of the lung become depleted and are recolonized by bacteria from the gut which become pathogenic in the lungs.
With that, it's hard to know what bacteria belong where, and how one would target those bacteria in particular.
NOW, given all of that it appears that the best option for the gut given that it appears to be the most extensively researched, is to eat a varied diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and fiber. Apparently many gut microbes enjoy polyphenols, so there's been some research to suggest polyphenols are good. Fiber can be categorized under prebiotics, or fiber that can't be digested by us which bacteria enjoy. Probiotics may help as well, but this may be for people with severe dysbiosis, and again there's no evidence as to which microbes would be best. Some of the research on probiotics has given mixed results. That also doesn't take into account the diet as well, as a poor diet won't provide the proper nutrients to sustain and nurture the bacteria in probiotics anyways.
As to the environment and pharmaceuticals, limiting the use of antimicrobials/antibiotics for when it's necessary is one way to not deplete the microbiome, and that's something that should be addressed with a doctor to figure out how to approach pharmaceuticals. Limiting how often disinfectants and bleach is used on surfaces can help as well. Remember that most of the bacteria that reside on surfaces are likely to be bacteria from us unless an incident occurs, so it's not likely harmful bacteria will continuously exist on many surfaces, and in fact our own bacteria existing on these surfaces may help act as a physical barrier against pathogens (similar to the hospital story I mentioned in my post).
Limiting use of hand sanitizer and going for hand soap is a better approach as well.
Overall, having a good diet rich in diverse foods and fiber is likely to be the best approach in the long run.
So these are just a few things that may help. I'll try to research some more and see what I can find. Again, when it comes to pharmaceuticals it's important to talk to doctors and discuss approaches with them, so note that my comments aren't intended to be medical advice.
Thanks for the stack. "if we could cultivate nonpathogenic bacteria on hospital surfaces" - this is so interesting, I had never thought of it! It really makes sense though. We are biological beings in a biological environment, and unfortunately both are more toxic because of man-made toxins, not because of bacteria and viruses imo.
I feel like this is one of my main talking points in life - we are meant to be covered in bacteria. Many of these things were drilled into my head by my immunology professor in college. He is the reason I eschew all anti-bacterial soaps & hand sanitizer. I also know someone who was a little too OCD with the hand sanitizer and ended up with warts all over their hands.
Again, as a society we are being short-sighted so we don't see the big picture and the harm it is causing. I look forward to more posts on this topic.
I think one of the biggest problems is that we don't consider how all of our actions can have ramifications on our microbiome. Instead, it's as if we focus on the harmful and deadly pathogens without realizing that our good bacteria help fend off these pathogens. It's a shame that none of this was considered and we may be dealing with ramifications due to these narrow minded actions.
I was just talking to my daughter about this yesterday! She's studying cell structure (8th grade) and was grossed out by the paramecium's flagellum. So we started talking about bacteria and I tried to explain the microbiome but the idea that bacteria were all over and inside her was too much :) I did bring up the issue of antibacterial soap and Purell, etc. adversely affecting our microbiomes and how soap and water is much better than using Purell. This generation, esp. after Covid, loves their Purell!
Gross is probably the intended reflex for having kids constantly wash and disinfect! It reminds me of an episode of a children's show called Recess (showing my age again) where the children learn about germs and one of the students freaks out about germs being everywhere, leading him to want to eradicate all of the germs on the school playground. One way to encourage this sterile behavior was to pass around a picture of a kid's foot caused by germs. I just find it funny how such tactics seem rather commonplace.
Here's the video if interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1bV4sLHaD8
With most soaps the action is generally physical/mechanical, in that the soap should help remove debris and the bacteria, although the soap may help break up the membranes as well. So soap should help remove the bacteria first. With antibacterial soap and alcohol part of its effect comes from chemically killing the bacteria rather than removing the bacteria, which causes some of the problems.
I told both kids tonight at dinner that washing with soap & water before lunch at school is better than Purell. They both said “but Purell is so much faster.” I’ll keep trying!
Good luck! The problem is that we are a culture of impulsivity and immediacy. Sometimes it's good to take some time rather than going for the quick fix, and it's probably better for us in the long run!
What can be done to help our micro biome?
So I've tried looking up a few things and will try having a post in the future, but the restoration/maintenance of the microbiome is complex.
First, there's no knowledge as to what an "ideal" microbiome should be. Everyone's microbiome is likely to be influenced by age, sex, diet, health, and geographical region. Given how varied everyone's diet is throughout the world it's hard to figure out what microbiome would be ideal for what individual.
Second, most studies focus on the gut microbiome. It appears this is the biggest focus of research. However, we know that there are bacteria that reside in our lungs, sinuses, mouth, throat, skin, urinary tract, uterus, etc. It's likely that each region of our body hosts different microbes, and part of the issue with dysbiosis is that microbes from one region may transfect to other regions and become pathogenic. Some evidence suggests this may be what happens during a respiratory infection, where the microbes of the lung become depleted and are recolonized by bacteria from the gut which become pathogenic in the lungs.
With that, it's hard to know what bacteria belong where, and how one would target those bacteria in particular.
NOW, given all of that it appears that the best option for the gut given that it appears to be the most extensively researched, is to eat a varied diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and fiber. Apparently many gut microbes enjoy polyphenols, so there's been some research to suggest polyphenols are good. Fiber can be categorized under prebiotics, or fiber that can't be digested by us which bacteria enjoy. Probiotics may help as well, but this may be for people with severe dysbiosis, and again there's no evidence as to which microbes would be best. Some of the research on probiotics has given mixed results. That also doesn't take into account the diet as well, as a poor diet won't provide the proper nutrients to sustain and nurture the bacteria in probiotics anyways.
As to the environment and pharmaceuticals, limiting the use of antimicrobials/antibiotics for when it's necessary is one way to not deplete the microbiome, and that's something that should be addressed with a doctor to figure out how to approach pharmaceuticals. Limiting how often disinfectants and bleach is used on surfaces can help as well. Remember that most of the bacteria that reside on surfaces are likely to be bacteria from us unless an incident occurs, so it's not likely harmful bacteria will continuously exist on many surfaces, and in fact our own bacteria existing on these surfaces may help act as a physical barrier against pathogens (similar to the hospital story I mentioned in my post).
Limiting use of hand sanitizer and going for hand soap is a better approach as well.
Overall, having a good diet rich in diverse foods and fiber is likely to be the best approach in the long run.
So these are just a few things that may help. I'll try to research some more and see what I can find. Again, when it comes to pharmaceuticals it's important to talk to doctors and discuss approaches with them, so note that my comments aren't intended to be medical advice.
Thanks for the stack. "if we could cultivate nonpathogenic bacteria on hospital surfaces" - this is so interesting, I had never thought of it! It really makes sense though. We are biological beings in a biological environment, and unfortunately both are more toxic because of man-made toxins, not because of bacteria and viruses imo.