Dr. Mercola December 13 2007 74,395 views
Not to mention that you need a certain amount of exposure to germs in order to develop/keep a strong immune system.
I agree....we shouldn't worry about every "germ" around us. Instead, we should work on keeping our immune systems healthy.
My daughter will be 2 years old next month and has not had a single sick visit to the pediatrician. Contrary to the actions of many mothers, I don't wipe down the grocery cart handle, use Lysol, or apply hand "sanitizer." With the increasing number of cases of MRSA, people seem to concentrating on the wrong things more than ever. naturalpureorganics.com/mrsa.htm
What kind of nasty bathroom habits does the guy who came up with this list have?
I'm definitely not a "germaphobe," but I assure you that I don't have a gram of crap in my underwear...
I needed a good laugh - thank you! (still laughing)
Thanks for boosting my immune system, RobCrouse! So funny.
Fear is a powerful motivator... or should I say marketing tool.........
I take all of this with a grain of salt. I believe that we build up immunities because we are exposed to such things. How many times have I washed our clothes then hung them on the line to dry and we've never gotten sick. My purse HAS been in every "bad" place concievable and I've never gotten sick from it.
Like some of you, I have a couple of friends who are truly germphobic and Lysol down EVERYTHING. Their kids were ALWAYS sick; mine were not (our kids are grown now). I wash my hands when I feel it is necessary, but honestly, how many times have some of you been to a park, roadside rest, or elsewhere where the "bathroom" is a couple or three holes in the ground? (Outhouses?) There are still several around where we live and there aren't any sinks or anti-bacterial soaps in sight! There are plenty of cobwebs, flies, and other creepy-crawlies, and I am sure plenty of bacteria, but I have never gotten sick from using these very "primitive" facilities. I will take "primitive" over nothing! The local faigrounds (where we attend the fair each year) got rid of their outhouses (multiple stalls each) a few years back (state mandated?), and I can assure you that the port-a-johns are much more unsanitary, scary, and gross than any outhouse I've ever been to!!! The list should have included port-a-johns!!! I have been in some truly scary and gross ones that were unusable because of the *** and urine on the seats! People are often pigs in public!
If we all live afraid of germs, we will be a sicker people. Those who live in more primitive and less sanitary conditions do not have more sickness. This entire subject should be discussed with common sense. When in doubt, wash your hands and sanitize if you are truly concerned (like the port-a-johns!), but I refuse to wipe down cart handles, spray down my purse, and avoid public bathrooms when nature calls. My constitution is like iron and I have a really strong immune system. So do my kids (though they are mainly grown).
Lori
Lori, never truer words were spoken. Germophobics are usually the sick ones because they do so much to stop the "bug"...they forget that we need them for out own immune systems...and if we concentrate on our own health rather than the diseases that we might get we will benefit more from the "law of attraction" (what we think is what we get) and we will be healthier...Jack
I dunno, I was a nanny for a family of 6 kids for a year. Their house was a disgrace - one side of the house was missing through winter because of building work. They never vaccuumed, never cleaned the toilets or bathroom - never cleaned anything! I had 1 hour a week to do the full 5 bedroom home in (you can imagine what state it was in with 6 kids, especially the loo). The surfaces were revolting; I was scared to touch anything or sit down on any sofas. The bathrooms and kitchen were a health hazard. The dog had diahorrea and would leave it all through the house, and it would never be cleaned up properly. I'd have to smuggle in hand soap, and more or less force the kids to use it.
And I've never seen sicker kids, nor been so sick myself. Constant streams of green being wiped all over everything. Heads scabbed with lice (I pulled 120 off the toddler in 10mins one day, on request of his playschool). Diahorrea, vomiting, colds. An asthmatic whose room had no wall and was an inch thick in dust, yet whose mother would never vaccuum or dust. I become compulsive about cleaning my room and carried hand sanitiser with me everywhere, I'd get through a bottle a day!! I felt safer outside in the dirt than in the house!!
"Germs build immunity", they'd say. "We're all too germphobic"... yeah, tell that to the kids. It was bordering on abuse; I wish now that I'd reported it but it was a few years ago.