Healthy Tip - Clean Truth

If you use any of the antibacterial soaps for hand washing or dish washing, I wish you would reconsider it. There are so many compelling reasons why people should chose natural soaps over antibacterial ones and here is just some of the most critical ones:
✓ Soap and water is the gold standard [for fighting cold and flu and other viral infections]. In a recent study in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, researchers in Australia doused the hands of 20 health-care workers with human H1N1 flu virus. Soap and water removed slightly more virus than three alcohol-based hand rubs. When volunteers didn't clean their hands, most of the virus was still present an hour after exposure. Source: Wall Street Journal.
✓ More scientific studies have found that simply washing your hands correctly may mean more to your health than using an antibacterial soap. Antibacterials can kill more germs for a longer time, which is why they're useful in hospitals, but they have no effect on viruses that couse colds or flus. Source: ABC News.
✓ Studies show that main chemicals of antibacterial soaps (triclosan and triclocarban) are building up in the environment at an alarming rate. Americans dump more than 1 million pounds of triclosan and triclocarban into the environment every year. Rolf Halden, PhD, a scientist at Arizona State University, published a study this month in Environmental Science and Technology showing that the chemicals don't quickly break down in the environment. He found these chemicals in sediment dating back 40-50 years. Source: WebMD.
✓ Antibacterial ingredients have become so popular, they’re literally in our blood. In addition to lead and pesticides, the CDC now periodically monitors levels of triclosan, the most common antibacterial agent, in randomly selected Americans. A recent CDC study detected triclosan in the urine of 75% of the people tested. Source: CDC website.
✓ Daily dose of triclosan can cause health problems in a long run. Experimental studies show that triclosan can cause bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics in test tubes. So far, no one knows whether that leads to the same result in hospitals or homes. Some researchers, though, believe resistant “superbugs” created by widespread antibacterial soap use could be a real possibility. Source: WebMD

So leather up one of our natural bar soaps and wash your hands thoroughly for not less than 20 seconds. Our natural, cold process soaps are the most gentle and skin loving soaps for your hands. Go ahead and wash your hands as often as you need without over drying or irritating your skin! Stay healthy and care for the environment!

Till next time,
Liana.

P.S. if you have missed our previous healthy tips you can find them here:
10 Foods that are healthier than you think.
Healthy Nails Tips.
Healthy Hair Tips.
When to buy Organic and when it's ok not to.
Benefits of Green Tea.
Beauty Sleep.
Fish Oil or Omega 3 & 6.
How to add years to your life.