Do you use antibacterial soap?
Or did you know that researchers have discovered that there are at least 250 kinds of bacteria that live on our skin? Some of the kinds they found were completely unknown. Should you be using extra-strength antibacterial soap?
Bacteria: The Necessary Tenants
Actually, just the opposite. Bacteria are natural, even necessary tenants in human bodies. There are more bacterial cells in the human body than human cells. Way more, in fact.
Not all bacteria are bad for you. The bacteria in our bodies are there for a reason. For instance, bacteria in our intestines are important for digestion. It's likely that the bacteria on our skin play important roles in keeping skin soft and enabling it to do what skin is supposed to do.
The Popular Soap
So why is antibacterial soap so popular? Maybe because we're obsessed with cleanliness, though it's impossible to completely rid the skin of bacteria, and in any case it wouldn't be a good idea to try.
There's evidence that the bacteria that live in, and on us. They help protect us from microbes that do cause infections. Getting rid of our natural bacteria could pave the way for harmful bacteria to move in.