Thread by @Telegraph

❌ Before you next take a shower, read this...

🚿 As hygiene habits have changed through lockdown, experts are noting the environmental and physical benefits of showering less

Thread ~ 🧵👇

telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness…

A YouGov survey showed our shower routines have changed significantly:

📉17% are showering less
💁1/4 wash their hair less
👕1/3 are less likely to put clean clothes on daily
📈Only 1/10 were showering more

With many still working from home, the trend could be here to stay

🧼 'The idea that we need to use soap all over our body... is not founded in any type of science' says James Hamblin, lecturer at Yale School of Public Health.

🧽 Hamblin only washes with water and occasionally wets his hair.

He still regularly washes his hands with soap

🦠 One argument for showering less centres around the skin microbiome: the trillions of micro-organisms that live on the skin’s surface.

🛀 Some microbes feed off the oils in our skin, which is stripped away when we use soap

telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness…

The skin microbiome plays an important role:

✅ Supports our immune system
✅ Prevents pathogens entering the body
✅ Reduces inflammation
✅ Lessens chances of skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis

💰 According to Fortune Business Insights, the global soap market is projected to reach £47.8 billion by 2027.

We weren’t always so addicted to bathing with soap 👇

🛁 Regular washing only took off in the second half of the 20th century, experts believe

🧼Now we're more conscious of hand hygiene than ever, it seems that the pandemic has pushed us back towards a more primitive way of washing.

🚿 Although we don’t know for certain it is healthier, it couldn’t hurt to save a few pounds on the water bill
telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness…