Let Them Eat Dirt? Episode 29

Problems with oversanitizing

• Research is showing that bacteria and microbes train our immune system
• Need to shift how we view microbes

What are microbes

• Living organisms
• Cannot see with naked eye
• Include fungi, bacteria, viruses
• live with huge zoo of them that live in intestines
• New research showing how important microbes are
• Born without microbes
• Help us digest food
• Involved in communicating with immunes system
• Encountering fewer microbes today and different microbes

Rise of New Diseases and Conditions

• Increase in allergies, diabetes, autism and other auto immune disorders
• Correlation in decrease in infection diseases such as measles, tb, but increase in “western diseases”
• As we clean up our world to get rid of dangerous designees, have destroyed good microbes as collateral damage
• big increases in food allergies

Benefits of Being Outside

• Encounter more microbes when outside
• Will get dirtier and be healthier
• Many other benefits of being outside

Washing Hands

• Very effective after we eat, after bathroom, when sick or have contact with someone sick
• Do not need to wash hands just because the hand is dirty
• Experiments found that alcohol based cleaners are not more effective than soap and water
• Do not need anti-bacterial soap or hand sanitizer
• Anti bacterial products sell better and more products are advertising it
• Anti bacterial products can be detrimental to health
• Triglycine in many toothpastes, and has been banned in many countries

Foods

• Bacteria are there because you feed them
• Find ways of metabolizing whatever food they can
• big changes in what humans are eating
• Fiber often reduced in grains we are eating today
• Before refrigeration used more fermented foods which provided microbes
• Increasing fiber and fermented foods is good for body
• Probiotics are not regulated at all
• Only have to prove they are safe, but do not know how 
• There are good probiotics, but hard to distinguish them
• pickled and preserved vegetables 

The Five Second Rule

• In busy public places like metro station, mall, should wash with soap and water before putting something back in child’s mouth
• Would feel more comfortable if something falls in the home or at someone’s house where you know someone is not really sick 
• Walking and hiking can just brush off 

Antibiotics

• They are overprescribed today
• 60% receive antibiotics for viral infections that they do not help
• watch and wait approach works well
• 8 out of 10 ear infections are viral
• Babies that are really young should still give antibiotic
• Doctors revisiting when to give antibiotic
• Ointments and creams have smaller effect, but usually are not necessary
• Question is do you really need it?

Pets

• Dogs can decrease allergies in children
• Transferring microbes to children which can be really helpful
• Want to make sure that the pet is healthy and receiving regular care from a vet
• Not the same benefit for cats

Vaccinations

• Very specific strategies to try to avoid infection
• Antibiotics kill many things, while vaccine is much more targeted 
• Vaccine have been only measure to avoid really bad infections and are the safest measures to do it
• Vaccines help prevent child from getting antibiotics later. Ex. If develop whooping cough will have to take really strong antibiotics. 
• Flu shots is effective for our own benefit, but also helps protect children and elderly people who cannot get it

Show and Tell
Let Them Eat Dirt Website
Let them Eat Dirt Book