Good Germs
We chat to Dr. Jenna Macciochi, a no-nonsense immunologist from the University of Sussex and author of The Science of Staying Well about if there really is a such a thing as being too clean, and which germs are good germs.
By Dr Jenna Macciochi
Is there such a thing as good bacteria?
Yes! The good bacteria that we are exposed to is really important for early immune education. Science shows that it’s preferable to have a vaginal birth and be breastfed because this seeds the baby with the correct starting microbes. Breast milk also contains special sugar molecules whose purpose is solely to feed those microbes in the gut of the baby so they flourish and start to educate the immune system. Of course a vaginal birth and breastfeeding aren’t always possible and sometimes those choices are out of our control, I’m simply highlighting the scientific benefits here. Obviously not everyone is able to do that, which is why scientists have spent years creating formulas to support the body.
“Encouraging children to dig in the dirt, play in the park, they by nature want to put things in their mouths and as long as we’re careful it's actually an evolutionary adaptation to shape us with the right source of microbes.”
Is there such a thing as too clean?
It’s not so much that we’re too clean but more that we don’t have enough contact with the good microbes that live around us. You may have heard of the hygiene hypothesis which is that we have all these allergies skyrocketing and kids' immune systems are just not what they should be. This has evolved into “the old friends hypothesis” which considers how much exposure we have to the good microbes living around us.
Every single surface we see and even the air we’re breathing right now has microbes in it. Our environments have their own microbiomes that we’re constantly exposed to - breathing them in, swallowing them, touching surfaces and we have less diversity in those “old friends” around us now than we used to, especially since our environments have shifted and are more often focused in the urban setting rather than the countryside.
These environmental inputs shape our immune system - encouraging children to dig in the dirt, play in the park, they by nature want to put things in their mouths and as long as we’re careful it's actually an evolutionary adaptation to shape us with the right source of microbes. Good hygiene still applies and we still need to wash our hands after playing in the dirt before eating, but that exploration is important!
What about food, does that have an impact?
Of course! Diversity of foods and plant based fibres introduced as soon as a child starts eating also helps to shape our immune systems. And this stands true really throughout our lives - diversity of environments, foods, and good hygiene. All these things help to shape a healthy immune system.
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