If you’re one of the millions of people who suffer from allergies, you’ve probably spent a fair amount of time wondering where they came from. You may have heard that we’re too clean for our own good, or that being overly hygienic is creating a generation of people with an immune system that overreacts to common allergens like pollen and peanuts. However, recent research has led scientists to propose a new theory: it’s not that we need more dirt, but rather that we need the right kind of dirt.
The Importance of “Old Friends”
According to a scientific report by the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH), the rise in allergies and inflammatory diseases might be due at least in part to our immune system losing contact with the range of microbes it evolved with, all the way back in the Stone Age. “Only now are we seeing the consequences of this, doubtless also driven by genetic predisposition and a range of factors in our modern lifestyle – from different diets and pollution to stress and inactivity. It seems that some people now have inadequately regulated immune systems that are less able to cope with these other factors,” says Graham Rook, a co-author of the IFH report.
In other words, our immune systems evolved in an environment that was full of what Rook calls “old friends” – beneficial microbes that helped us develop properly. Without these helpful old friends, our immune systems may now be more susceptible to allergies and inflammatory diseases.
Dirty Homes Are Not the Answer
However, don’t go turning your home into a pigsty just yet. Simply being dirty isn’t going to help you reunite with those missing “old friends”. In fact, the bugs and bacteria that now proliferate in our modern, dirty homes are completely different from the microbes our ancestors lived with. Attempting to lower your risk of allergies by keeping an unhygienic home could expose you to other hazards, like E. coli.
So, if being too clean or letting your home get dirty isn’t the answer, what is? How can we reconnect with the right kind of dirt to help us regulate our immune systems and avoid allergies?
Safely Reintroducing Beneficial Microbes
While researchers are still exploring the best ways to reverse the trend in allergies and chronic inflammatory diseases, there are some ideas being considered as a starting point. One of these is to “stop talking about ‘being too clean’ and get people thinking about how we can safely reconnect with the right kind of dirt,” suggests Sally Bloomfield, another co-author of the IFH report.
Some options for exposing ourselves to beneficial microbes include:
- Spending time outdoors: Engaging in outdoor activities, particularly in natural environments like forests and parks, can help increase your exposure to the microbes found in soil and on plants.
- Eating fermented foods: Foods such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi are rich in beneficial bacteria. Incorporating these into your diet can help restore and maintain a healthy balance of microbes in your body.
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Gardening: Working with soil and plants is not only therapeutic but also exposes you to a diverse array of microbes that may help support your immune system.
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Being around animals: If you’re not allergic to them, consider spending time with pets or farm animals, as they can also be a source of beneficial microbes.
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Supporting your gut health: There is a strong link between gut health and our immune system, so focusing on maintaining a healthy gut through a balanced diet, prebiotics, and probiotics may help reduce the risk of allergies.
A Preventative Approach
While it’s still not entirely clear how to reverse the current trend of increasing allergies and inflammatory diseases, it is clear that we need a new approach to our relationship with dirt and microbes. By focusing on safely reconnecting with beneficial microbes, or our “old friends”, we can support our immune system and potentially lower our risk of developing allergies. As science continues to investigate this field, we’ll likely find more ways to safely re-introduce these helpful microbes into our modern lives. In the meantime, engage with the natural world, look after your gut health, and be conscious of the food you consume.
