James Hamblin, a doctor and journalists, helps us get answers (or mostly more questions) about how our hygiene practices impact us and our largest organ - our skin - which is impacted by the world around us. This book lets us consider questions such as:
Are we too clean?
Should we be using antibacterial soap?
What products should put on our skin? our hair? under our arms?
How does our skin microbiome impact our health?
Should we eat a pound of dirt before we turn one?
What kinds of regulations are in place in the beauty industry vs the health industry? Does it matter?
Why do some beauty products work on some of us and not on others?
What are the most important things to do to stay healthy?
So many questions, and so much food for thought in this book that begins with the sentence,
"Five years ago, I stopped showering."
And ends with:
"From pharmaceuticals to soaps and other personal care products, Americans are clearly overpaying for - and overusing - products and services that are supposed to make us healthier. The pattern of consumption is unsustainable, and much of it may be doing more harm than good. The greatest advances were those basic gestures at exposing people to nature - letting us have space to move, clean air to breathe, people to socialize and build relationships with, and plants, animals, and soil that bring us the microbes we evolved to be covered and sustained by." (page 251)
Finally, the last chapter shares a lot of information about the history of city planning and outdoor spaces including a mention of conditions in the tenements in New York City. For this reader, that included checking out the digital displays in the Tenement Museum. (Note that not all of the links were working but I found that I could skip around those links to read these historical stories.)
This book was found in print at the Nashua Public Library
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