Many of us have enjoyed, at some point in our lives, the lovely feeling of digging into the dirt. Perhaps it was for some useful activity like gardening or simply making mud pies. But what if you found out that playing in the dirt can support your healthy lifestyle? What if someone told you that by getting dirty you were in fact supporting wellness? It’s true!
Children are Natural Dirt Magnets
The best part of being a child is getting dirty. Growing up in the country consists of eating produce as it is picked, running barefoot three or four months out of the year, and using your t-shirt to wipe off a toad’s pee. Everyone was scolded for tracking mud through the house or forgetting to wash up before dinner. Dirt was part of the wardrobe and the diet of childhood! Fresh air and good country soil was the prescription for nearly everything when we were young. Bored? Go outside and play. Have a headache? Go outside and get some fresh air. Feeling stressed with homework? Take a break and go outside!
We are Healthier with Healthier Dirt
Dr. Mary Ruebush, an immunologist, and author of Why Dirt is Good: 5 Ways to Make Germs Your Friends, said it best:
“If your child isn’t coming in dirty every day, they’re not doing their job.”
The same can be said about us. In a world of hand sanitizer and antibacterial soaps, how often do you actually allow yourself to get dirty? When we are exposed to bacteria, our bodies naturally build up antibodies. But we deprive the body’s ability to protect us when we completely sterilize our environments. This doesn’t mean we should never clean or wash our hands – hand washing is still the number one protection against deadly diseases. But a little dose of dirt now and then is actually good for us and allows our bodies to naturally consume good bacteria whilst building antibodies against bad bacteria. But, if dirt is so healthy, why are we battling it every day?
Fight Pollutants Not Just Dirt
Have you ever heard the term ‘Work smarter not harder?’ This is what we must understand before we try to scrub clean in an effort to stay healthy. What we are fighting against are the pollutants and toxins that have entered into our natural environment and have tainted the good name of our mud pies! Dirt, when left in its natural organic state, helps to strengthen our immune systems and ingesting a little on an organic strawberry picked ripe from the field is very good for us. But most of our soil is not untainted, and most of the food that is readily available in the grocery store is not organic. Even touching it with our bare hands can leave residual toxins that we can contaminate our surroundings with. We are getting sick from this inorganic and unnatural ‘dirt’. So, it is time to work smarter and not harder! By using organic cleaners on our foods and in our homes we can maintain a clean environment without robbing ourselves of the good dirt that will build our immune systems.
Applications and Resources
- Check out the National Wildlife Foundation website for more interesting articles on dirt
- Another great article on the importance of dirt can be found here
- Take a look at what iGOZEN has to offer and what pollutants are eliminated with iGOZEN products