Even if you’re someone who doesn’t shampoo your hair every day, chances are you regularly wash your body with soap in the shower.
Why? Because despite all the research over the past few years that’s to the contrary, we think germs are “dirty.”
On the contrary to being dirty, putting oneself in contact with dirt helps your microbiome figure out which germs are good for you and which are bad for you. The good germs that crawl your body are great for skin health, immunity, and digestion.
But you’re probably still not convinced to skip your soap though, right? After all, that’s just too weird.
Well, here are some guidelines that can help you understand why you don’t need soap most of the time, and when you do.
Soap is totally useful in a dew cases and places. If you’re looking for spots to apply soap daily, look no further than your armpits and your groin.
But other than those places, there’s really no need to use anything but water. Even a sweaty workout can be eliminated with just a rinse.
The only time you need soap all over your body is if you get really dirty—as in, covered with mud or swimming in a public pool.
Washing your body in the shower every day eliminates bacteria from our skin that could be keeping our skin free of acne and eczema
During cold and flu season, being more cautious isn’t a bad idea. But even then, there’s no need to wash hands with antibiotic-ridden, antibacterial soap. The cold and the flu are caused by viruses, not bacteria.
So next time you reach for that unnatural, artificial-smelling, antibacterial body wash, maybe reconsider. Water, or natural, organic soap, is all you need.
