Doctor shares why he hasn't showered in eight years!
And get this, he doesn't plan on showering ever again...
We recently heard the story about the dirtiest man in the world passing on. He was said to have not showered for well over sixty years.
And the irony of it all is that he died not long after he took a shower.
Hmm, definitely something that gets you thinking.
We've always been taught that bathing and staying clean is good for our health, but could there be some truth in the alternative?
This doctor has us wondering, since he decided not to bath since 2015.
"James Hamblin, a journalist, physician and Yale public health lecturer, stopped showering in 2015, as part of the research for his book, ‘Clean: The New Science of Skin and the Beauty of Doing Less.’
"Over time, the body gets more and more used to not smelling bad without the use of deodorant or soap," Hamblin assures. (MSN)
Besides giving up showers, he also gave up on shampoo, conditioner, moisturiser, deodorant, and soap. Except handwash - he still washes his hands.
"Much like our digestive tract, our skin is home to trillions of crucial bacteria, and the book posits that scrubbing ourselves daily with cleaning agents destroys or upsets that important microbiome and could likely lead to worse health outcomes." (New York Post)
We have to say that does make sense to some extent. Actually taking the plunge and not showering or washing our face seems too daunting a task.
MORE FROM JACARANDA FM
He did admit that the effects do take time to show.
"The effects don't start overnight. It's not immediate. In fact, the process of stopping showering and using shampoo, soap or deodorant was gradual.
"There were moments that I wanted to shower because I missed it, I smelled bad and I felt greasy. But that sensation disappeared over time," he recalls." (MSN)
Skin biome science is being investigated broadly over the recent years. But Hamblin says, "Acceptance will mean overcoming hundreds of years of societal messaging about what it means to be “clean.”" (New York Post)
Image Courtesy of Pexels