Millions of people shower in the morning as part of their routine to wake up feeling refreshed for the day. But according to a hygiene expert, bathing every day is “really not important” and should never be done.
Professor Sally Bloomfield, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said we only do it to be “socially acceptable” by warding off “nasty” body odors.
In fact, Amou Haji, known as “the nastiest man in the world” for not washing for nearly seven decades, died at the age of 94 in Iran.
And Professor Bloomfield, who supported the government’s hand-washing campaign during the Covid pandemic, suggested there was nothing wrong with his lifestyle from a hygienic point of view.
Showering in the morning could strip your skin of its natural oils, doing more harm than good, Bloomfield pointed out.
She also says that although most people shower every day, it’s not necessary (medically). If you shower more than once a day you could be washing away that body’s microorganisms that help control the oil level on the skin. Showering too much can also make your skin drier.
Professor Bloomfield told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast:
“In my opinion, we don’t need to bath and shower every day. In fact, we don’t need to bathe and shower at all. There are microbes on our body that produce nasty odors but they’re not harmful to us. And the reason we bathe and shower is that we want to get rid of those odors and we want to feel comfortable. That’s fine — but as far as preventing disease, it’s really not important.”
The professor added: “We don’t need to shower or wash at all. The reason we do it is to be socially acceptable. We do it in the summer to get rid of sweat and to make us feel more comfortable. But we also have some harmless bugs that are set up at home in places that are dark and moist and they break down sweat and they break down urine to produce nasty odors, which make us unacceptable to other people. So those are the reasons that we mainly shower ourselves.”
She suggested, “Hand-washing is still vital to prevent the spread of infections and diseases. We’re very confused about the difference between cleanliness and hygiene. Cleanliness is what we do to look and feel clean but hygiene is the cleaning we do in order to prevent the spread of germs.”
Watch the video below for more details:
Sources: AWM, NYpost/Youtube
