Why getting your hands dirty is good for you

(bbc.com)

57 points | by HatchedLake721 2 hours ago ago

18 comments

  • nxobject an hour ago

    I look forward to seeing a lifehacking hyper-optimizer streamline this to a polished daily workflow...

    "I have a bucket of mud, in which I stick my hands for 15 minutes every morning.

    Every weekend, I inoculate at a 1:5:5 ratio with biologically active stream dirt (after petri-dishing to check for activity), and a mix of poor-quality soil cover, and some compost; I finish by adding a 10-10-10 balanced fertilizer.

    Recently, I've been seeing if there are any additional benefits to smearing all over my arms; I'm conducting a 3 month/3 month comparison experiment, with a washout period in-between...

    Don't forget to buy my exclusive eBook!"

    • tomkarho 2 minutes ago

      I'm sure the comments will be full of detractors scoffing at this claiming that all one needs is not to wash their hands. Or just go outside to handle that mud. With luck you might come across the king of Briton.

    • mft_ 11 minutes ago

      There’s a startup opportunity: a body cream with concentrates of beneficial microorganisms.

      “Pair it with our full spectrum sun lamp and you can have all the benefits of playing outside from the comfort of your standing desk”.

      • ceejayoz a minute ago

        FDA: “You’ve got E. coli in here.”

        “Yes.”

      • electric_mayhem a few seconds ago

        You folks are having fun with the idea, but, well, in 2026 there’s absolutely a viable market for this.

    • sdcfgy an hour ago

      They'd be copying the greats! I have seen a distinct pattern of artists and photographers doing self portraits while rolling around in shit or mud.

    • jareklupinski 10 minutes ago

      "sign up now and get free peptides your macrocolony needs to immunemogg those bacteria!"

      • mettamage 9 minutes ago

        So if I sign up for like 6 months, could I get 25% off?

  • satnhak a few seconds ago

    And no one has dirtier hands than the BBC

  • Tepix 15 minutes ago

    > Those using the microbially-diverse soil saw an increase in the diversity of bacteria on their skin, and on the number of anti-inflammatory cytokines in their blood – while the other group didn't.

    That's really remarkable.

  • jareklupinski 8 minutes ago

    after i switched to washing my hands with antibacterial soap (the orange kind they use in hospitals), i've gone from a bimonthly cold-analog disease to maybe being sick twice a year

  • chistev an hour ago

    Dirt is good to prevent you from getting sick easily.

  • Arodex 3 minutes ago

    ... Wasn't there papers and articles showing getting in contact with soil was causing Parkinson's?

    Feeling some pâro, again:

    https://youtu.be/w7l2hUp0CkQ

  • jeanmichelselli 2 hours ago

    .. and we needed an article from BBC to be aware of this? :O

    • librasteve 37 minutes ago

      yes, I’m so delighted by this quality content I want to up my licence fee

    • bananaflag 2 hours ago

      these are Imperial hands getting dirty

  • SachaSOL 32 minutes ago

    A hackaton here would be crazy ! Is it YC funded house ?

    • asimovDev 4 minutes ago

      wrong tab I assume, cause above this post on the frontpage is the LAN house post