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I'm a naturopathy by certification, I don't practice because I prefer to work in my trade. Four years studying in a formal capacity, Western Herbal Medicine, Cl
by TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
I'm a naturopathy by certification, I don't practice because I prefer to work in my trade. Four years studying in a formal capacity, Western Herbal Medicine, Clinical Nutrition (diet and supplements), and enough anatomy & physiology and pathophysiology to be able to converse with experts in the field and keep up, and the resulting life-long passion to seek out and critically analyse new information relating to chemistry, biochemistry, neurology, immunology, etc etc etc.
I have fond memories of one lecturer always saying "don't put anything on your skin you wouldn't put in your mouth and swallow".
Your skin is permeable, the fats and oils the skin exude are part of it's protective systems, and, as the article points out, the regular surface of the skin is a veritable smorgasbord of commensal organisms.
We should probably stop treating out bodies as fundamentally broken. They've gotten us this far, and, more generally, you don't see other animals obsessed with hygiene. Although I did recently see a video of a rat soaping itself up for a shower, so there's that I guess.
- Apocryphon 6y agoAnimals don't wear clothing, so already we're starting with a default that's different from nature. It's much easier to trap in sweat, oils, and other byproducts if you're rubbing up against fabrics all day.
- swinglock 6y agoAlso few animals sweat like humans do.
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoSure. There are soap alternatives that don't cut the oils the same way. My favourite is rolled oats in the end of a stocking cut and tied off. The stocking is a mild abrasive and the oats exude a milky substance when wet and it feels quite pleasant. Worth nothing I didn't say *"don't shower or bathe".
- caturopath 6y ago> don't put anything on your skin you wouldn't put in your mouth and swallow I'd ask this lecturer to join me this weekend as I wade in a giardia-infested river, toes feeling the silt and mud, but I'm a bit of a prude and I can only assume they're naked. Myself, I'll not hesitate to put on some sunscreen.
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoRight. Obviously I'm not talking about that. And, sure, I've got for multiple multi-year periods without wearing sunscreen, though I do when I want to expose my skin, of course. Also, the site guidelines ask us to: Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- rootusrootus 6y ago> you don't see other animals obsessed with hygiene Ha, tell that to my cats!
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoHaha, good one. Yeah, I live with a cat, they're extremely clean creatures in that sense. He does have somewhat less of a collection of personal hygiene products than the average westerner, though ;)
- tatersolid 6y ago> Yeah, I live with a cat, they're extremely clean creatures in that sense. My two cats lick their own anuses multiple times per day. Not. Clean.
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoYeah, and when you're not home they're walking all over the tables and bench tops. Cats can carry toxoplasmosis. But, generally speaking, humans and other animals can cohabitate to quite a degree and nothing much comes of it in the general case.
- kps 6y agoSoap doesn't actually taste that bad. (Disclaimer: I like cilantro.)
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoI tend to agree, and also like coriander as we call it around these parts.
- Gabriel_Martin 6y agoMore information about that rat, which adds some unfortunate context to it. https://twitter.com/JanFreedman/status/958325784401375232 https://twitter.com/JanFreedman/status/958325784401375232