If someone is asked if they know how to take a shower, they probably laugh out loud. Showering is a very simple and natural little thing and little detail for people in modern society. Everyone knows: take a bath or shower, use soap or shower gel, finally rinse off, dry the bath towels, and finish.

Perhaps because of this, when the American doctor James Hamblin wrote a book telling people that he had not used soap or any cleaning products in bathing for 5 years, people's first reaction was often a strong surprise, shock, and even nausea. Many people may think that Dr. Hambling is very unhygienic and a little unsanitary. In fact, Hambling insisted on washing hands with soap before the new crown epidemic. He is also a lecturer at Yale University School of Public Health, and a medical writer and podcast host for The Atlantic magazine. So, as a doctor, what are the considerations behind this "weird" choice?


The real reason why health professionals don't use soap

According to the British "Guardian" report, as a medical and health expert, Hambling looks very young and naturally understands common sense of hygiene, and he refuses to use cleaning products for his reason. It turned out that Hambling's shower habit was gradually developed. His original purpose was to save time, but also to save money and trouble. Later, as he became more and more interested in human microbiome science, he decided to personally try the impact of cleaning products on the human microbiome, starting with a small thing like bathing.

It turns out that as people's understanding of medicine continues to deepen, the understanding and recognition of the importance of trillions of microbiomes (microbiomes) living on human skin and in the intestine is also increasing day by day.

The microbiota plays a vital role in the human immune system, protecting us from pathogens. Pathogens compete with the human microbiota for resources and space by producing antimicrobial chemicals.

There is scientific evidence that many daily chemicals, including ordinary bath products, destroy the microbiota that protects human health. For this reason, some bath products that are friendly to the microbiota are already available on the market in many places.


Business hype

Since the 1920s, the daily chemical industry has continuously introduced a large number of human body cleaning and deodorizing products. Commercial advertisements make people feel that if deodorant and cleaning products are not used, it is very unhygienic and even body odor.

Nowadays, there are countless skin-related daily chemicals that people use. In addition to various washing and cleaning products, there are also beauty, skin care, moisturizing, deodorizing, and exfoliating. At the same time, autoimmune diseases such as allergies, acne, acne, eczema and psoriasis are becoming more and more common.




Studies have shown that although people are keen on body cleansing, many people do not wash their hands well or do not wash their hands at the most critical moment before and after meals. It goes without saying that, especially in the current global epidemic, soap washing hands is more important than body cleansing.

Increase microbial diversity

If urban residents want to increase the diversity of their microbiota, the ideal way is to get closer to nature and have close contact with other people and animals. Of course, this is not suitable during the COVID-19 pandemic.




At the same time, reducing the use of antibiotics will also be critical to increasing the microbiota. At the same time, people can take less baths and use less bath cleaning products like Dr. Hambling. So if you don't have a bidet at home, how can you clean some private parts and dead ends of your body? Hambling suggests that the toilet paper can be moistened and the cleaning effect is better. He did that anyway.