ANTI-BACTERIAL SOAPS... ARE THEY NEEDED?

Anti-Bacterial Soaps. Do you and your family need them?

One thing I try to do in my line of work is to help my clients implement simple lifestyle choices that will help improve the quality and quantity of their lives.

One of the most basic things I stress is developing a healthy, if not hardy, immune system. It is clear in America today that the focus is on an unnatural approach, including the use of chemicals and drugs and not a more natural approach of strengthening our immune systems.

The entire situation of our nation being reactive, versus proactive, to illness and disease by over-using antibiotics and chemicals is very sad to me; you see the human body is a marvelous creation that can have a more than capable immune system, we just have to strengthen it and then believe in it!

So, what about, your child and Anti-Bacterial Soaps?

Anti-Bacterial Soaps? ALERT: THE WORLD ISN’T STERILE!

Parents should not be going out of their way trying to create a “Boy in the Plastic Bubble” atmosphere for their child (John Travolta, 1976). What ever happened to playing in the dirt, or interacting with the earth to help us strengthen our immune systems? Why the bacteria phobia? Parent’s would be better off having their child just washing their hands with a regular (natural is best) soap than having a chemical laden anti-bacterial soap in the home. The simple act of applying soap to the hands and rubbing vigorously will cause the cell walls of any bacteria on the hands to be ripped apart by the soap, disintegrating and killing any bacteria present. Instead of getting into a discussion on the chemical make-up of these anti-bacterial soaps I am going to give you a good amount of information on the basics of the importance of washing our hands regularly.

Did you realize that it was just a hundred and fifty years ago that doctors used to amputate a limb on a patient or work on a cadaver in one room and within minutes would deliver a child in the next, WITHOUT EVER WASHING THEIR HANDS? Don’t believe me, Google search: Dr. Semmelweis. (Hint: Just by implementing the practice of frequent hand washing hospitals saw their mortality rate drop exponentially). Children who wash their hands effectively have fewer visits to the doctor, take fewer antibiotics, need fewer prescription medicines, have fewer illnesses, and miss less school than their counterparts. This has been demonstrated repeatedly. Schools with regular hand washing programs have measurably fewer infections in their students than schools with sporadic hand washing. Schools without hand washing routines have large amounts of fecal bacteria detectable on classroom floors and carpets. What does it mean to wash effectively? Children (and adults) must be taught to wash their hands at all of the critical moments. These include washing after defecating, after handling diapers, before handling food, before eating, and before feeding children. They must also wash with water and a cleansing agent -- not water alone. Even washing with ashes and water, or soil and water, has been proven to be more effective than washing with water alone.

There have been times in my life that I have trained over ten “gym” clients a day on average. When you are in that type of environment you learn quickly what needs to be done to keep yourself from constantly getting sick. Because it was clear I was constantly being bombarded with numerous types of bacteria I needed to create and follow a simple plan to stay healthy and vibrant.

This is what I determined was my best line of “acute” protection and/or defense:

1. Between the training of every client I would wash my hands with soap and water.

2. I quit putting my hands to my face; especially the eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

3. I would make sure I received a couple extra hours of sleep whenever possible.

During this time of training 45-65 clients a week (which was taxing my immune system horribly by the way), I noticed, like clockwork, that every month I would be a little “off”. "Off" is what I call it when my immune system was having to work hard to fight off “some type of bug”.

But, I never became ill, NEVER.

The moral of the story is this: I cannot tell you the last time I was what you may say “under the weather”. A big part of the reason is right here in this article!

My suggestion: 1. Please get rid of the synthetic anti-bacterial soaps containing Triclosan, and 2. Wash your hands and wash your hands often!