We've all seen the adverts that encourage us to clean every inch of our homes with bleach or antibacterial products; but are we benefitting from doing this or can too much cleanliness actually be doing us harm?
Here's a quick brief about what we know..
When we talk about bacteria we are talking about the good and the bad bacteria. Bacteria is heavily demonised in the media as being bad, and something that we should be eliminating from our homes everyday; but actually good bacteria is essential for us, especially to maintain a healthy gut, digestive system and immune system - basically everything that keeps us functioning! The issue with anti-bacterial products is that they do not know the difference between the good and bad bacteria in our homes and therefore will wipe out the lot, and our bodies can suffer as a consequence of this.
As teeny as they are and not visible to the naked eye, we have a lot of bacteria residing on our hands, skin, as well as inside our guts. Good bacteria keeps the body in check and running as it should, and when we use hand sanitisers and anti-bacterial products, we are attempting to kill off almost every microbe that resides on our hands and surfaces, disrupting our microbiome. Exposure to some bacteria is essential, and when we are stripping away ALL the bacteria in our homes we are also not giving the little ones in our homes the chance to build up a healthy immune system, leaving them potentially more at risk from diseases and illnesses later on.
Another issue with using those types of products is that they could be contributing to creating antibiotic resistance, which is already starting to prove to be a serious threat, that is getting worse. Even though they generally do not contain standard antibiotics, when microbes become resistant to some of the sanitisers this can make it easier for them to be resistant to more important antibiotics.
So what should we use?
There is a time and a place for antibacterial products, such as in food settings (hospitals, commercial kitchens, and in places where meat is being handled/prepared), but where that is not the case, and certainly for our day to day cleaning in our own homes, a simple multi-purpose cleaner is your best friend. A good and natural multi-purpose cleaner will remove any dirt and grime without stripping our home of those all important microbes. You can also do one better by opting for an organic multi-purpose cleaner, this way you won't have any traces of nasty pesticides and toxins being sprayed around your home either!
That's why the first product we created (and one of our best sellers), is our Lavender & Tea Tree all purpose cleaner. Using this cleaner for all your daily needs will keep your house sparkly clean, and won't affect your microbiome in the process.
To summarise
Anti-bacterial products are essential for the use in hospitals, restaurants and in hospitality sectors to protect against the spreading of serious flus, viruses and food poisoning. However, we are a society that has been programmed to overuse these products in our everyday lives, and as such it creates a potential huge cost to our health in the process. So by choosing to stick away from the anti-bac soap and sprays when not required, your health will thank you for it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post, if you found this useful then stay tuned for further info on the matter as we explore this in further detail soon.
Emma
