Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

Ellesters_203 — Tue, 08 May 2007 13:39:31 GMT

Hi - I agree that getting dirty is good for us however, it may be worth noting that the mycobacteria mentioned in this article is native only to North Eastern Africa and some parts of India so unfortunately you will not be able to get exposure to it by doing your gardening unless you live in Uganda!

(I know the doctor at UCH London who has isolated the bacteria)

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

Islander — Sun, 06 May 2007 14:42:21 GMT

I've been saying for years that dirty children are healthy children. They need to be exposed to "germs" in order for their immune system to form protection. This applies to sterilizing baby bottles as well (for those who don't nurse). Kids raised in a sterile bubble will catch whatever comes along. When I was a child (more than 50 years ago - oh, who am I kidding, more than 60 years ago), if a kid on the street got mumps or chicken pox or measles, all the mothers sent their kids there to catch it and get it over with. We drank out of garden hoses and passed around a bottle of Moxie. My friends and I all live a rural lifestyle and we are healthy as hornets.

BTW, someone asked about the health of showering daily. There again, 50 years ago, houses had only one bathroom, no matter how many kids, and it wasn't a problem because no one showered daily. Soap washes off the skin's acid mantle which helps protect us from infection. Additionally, I understand that without the natural oils on your skin, you cannot process sunlight to create Vitamin D. Dr. M, can you confirm either of those assertions?

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

mamabear — Sat, 05 May 2007 23:40:36 GMT

The one rule at our house has always been, " if the kids stay clean i am not a good parent so GET DIRTY."
Needless to say all the kids like to come to our house and their parents know not to send them in the "good clothes"
We haven't had health insurance for 10 years, being self employed, and i attribute the health of my children to fresh air, sunshine, lots of fruit, and dirt. They also always have played outside even if the cold and sometimes the rain.
I guess we can all say a mud pie a day keeps the doctor away.
It's true.

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

Ess Ess — Sat, 05 May 2007 20:03:27 GMT

Dr. Mercola, please be sensitive about what kinds of studies you post Vivisection (animal torture in the name of science) is barbaric and you ought to be protesting this on your site, instead of posting such as an "item of interest".

We know enough about what makes for a healthy immune system and what doesn't, at least enough not to need yet another "scientific study" that tortures animals at human expense!

Please protest such activities and suggest alternatives to your field-- the science and technology for such already exists. Support it! And help save animal's lives from needless suffering and death.

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

Ess Ess — Sat, 05 May 2007 19:59:31 GMT

Subjecting a sentient being to "swim until it gives up" is a horrible act, and is indeed torture. I don't even want such experimentation going on to "help find a cure for life-threatening disease" (anyway, that is often a by-line for the corporate/drug/medical industries to keep the funding coming.

We no longer need to conduct "the chamber of horrors" upon live animals (vive-section) to save our species over theres. What give us this right anyway? (this is a rhetorical question for us all to ponder). This is simply a deeply self-serving, barbaric activity, lacking any compassion or true intelligence. Enough already!

And, Dr. Mercola, I am surprised that you would even post such studies on your site, that reveal what is being done to animals-- all without any protest on your part. I don't know how you feel about animals, but I am sure, countless of your readers love and want to respect them. Health, is not just about our bodies, our minds, or our emotions. It is also about how we embrace all of life-- and other lives-- with heartfelt intellect and wise compassion.

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

saynotoquacks — Sat, 05 May 2007 19:53:20 GMT

Dirt is wonderful. Bacteria and parasites give our immune systems something to do. A bored immune system might get restless and give us asthma or arthritis!

I wonder if showering every day is harmful? I find that my skin is healthier if I don't shower for a day or two. (No, it's not gross when you have a healthy immune system! BO results from a weak immune sys.) And since I quit using shampoo and started just washing my hair with plain ivory soap, I feel soooooo much better! My head feels clean and fresh, and my hair doesn't fall out nearly as much. My brain is much happier too.

Most people don't know how easily chemicals pass through the skin and into the bloodstream, and into the brain!

Cleanliness kills. I believe one can live a very happy life owning no cleaning substances other than pure soap and baking soda! Baking soda is all you need for armpit odor.

When I use a public restroom I never use that smelly pink liquid soap they have! Yuck!

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

Alternative Medicine Man in Arizona — Sat, 05 May 2007 16:01:18 GMT

Many years ago, my mother once said, "A dirty kid is a happy and healthy kid", and I have seen this to be true, many, many times, over the years. A few years ago, I read an article from a pediatrician who agreed 100% with this concept, stating that proper development of the immune system required the exposure to all sorts of natural microbes in soil, and when we look at specific groups such as the Amish, (Pennsylvania Dutch) community, whose children grow up, playing in natural, uncontaminated soil, and eating the produce from that soil, we see the incidence and severity of disease to be only a small fraction of that seen elsewhere.

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

sherryberry — Sat, 05 May 2007 15:39:49 GMT

I have never been one to make sure my home is a superclean-"sterile" environment; my house is LIVED IN! I don't feel the need to constantly wash my hair or bath twice a day like a lot of people I know. I have very few anti-bacterial products in my home. YET, I hardly ever get sick while most people I know are always dealing with some kind of sickness! All the anti-bacterial commercials drive me crazy along with the drug commercials!

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

Whieldon — Sat, 05 May 2007 14:01:00 GMT

Yes indeed. One of the few things Dr M has written which didn't seem right to me concerned the need to keep squeaky clean! Tony W

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

fellowservantinchrist — Sat, 05 May 2007 12:35:53 GMT

Dear Kaybr55:
I've seen you as a regular responder to Dr. M's website. Thanks for all your support for those diabetics out there! As a Registered Nurse and a strong advocate of eating whole foods: I must interject one comment about the gloves and diabetics.
Most insulin dependent diabetics just don't have the immune system to fight off regular infections like staph, strep, and so on. I would suggest wearing gardening gloves to prevent a cut---because a small cut can be VERY bad in a long term diabetic.
Now in a non-insulin diabetic I would say you would be safer: seems their immune system is a little better.
There are a lot of bacteria in soil. Good and bad.
Although I strongly agree with Dr. M on this, just be careful if you have a compromised immune system----and if you aren't eating healthier to reverse the process.
I have seen everyday bacteria take over a diabetic, leaving them open to more serious antibiotic resistant strains.
Keep up the good work! And the encouragement!
Anita RN

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

holisticwellness — Sat, 05 May 2007 12:00:42 GMT

Wonderful blog! IF ONLY because, having worked on my directory for a year now, I have learned that there are not "some" natural cures for depression, but many fruitful and creative natural cures for depression! We are fortunate that we are a country of talented healers who see depression as a symptom of a deeper cause, and work with the body-mind to alleviate it. Dirt therapy? ;-)
Thanks for your continued inspiring information, Dr. Mercola!
Kristin
HolisticWellness.com
Your Online Holistic Directory
and Virtual Wellness Center

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

CamSwitzer — Sat, 05 May 2007 11:51:49 GMT

It is possible that being in the sun gives us just as great benefits as working in the garden.

Please keep in mind that this study was done on MICE. I am certain that Dr. Mercola will be the first to agree, that how mice react to chemicals, and other reagents is not necessarily the same way humans react and it can be dangerous to assume that the reactions we see in mice can be transposed to humans.

For example, we can say that mice grow strong and healthy by eating grain. Should we therefore assume that humans grow strong and healthy by eating grain as well? No, we should not as we know that although the mouse body and organs are designed to eat grains, humans are not. We are damaged by all grains;because they all break down to sugar in the body and then all heck breaks loose. Obesity, diabetes and more illnesses (celiac's disease is a good one) are a direct result of our grain-eating mistaken lifestyle.

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

momma6 — Sat, 05 May 2007 05:44:44 GMT

"Working in Dirt Can Actually Be Healthy"

What ever happened to the word healthful?

re: Working in Dirt Can Actually be Healthy!

beachpainter — Sat, 05 May 2007 04:42:49 GMT

Probably because of chemicals they put in gardening soil now you can also pick up substances that will cause burning infections in your fingernails from putting your bare hands in some soil. My friend said it felt like having a very high fever under her fingernails. So find 'clean' dirt to play in. Judi

re: Working In Dirt Can Actually Be Healthy!

Aaltrude — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:53:31 GMT

I was raised in the country and in our community, asthma was rare. It was very noticeable when I started work in the city how many people were puffing on inhalers for their asthma. Once again I am now living back in the country on an organic farm and notice there is very little evidence of asthma in the area.
I have also noted that those mothers who are very fussy about keeping their children clean are the ones whose children seem to catch every bug that is going around.