George Carlin, philosopher of common sense

Into the colon with ya’

There’s a lot of truth in what George Carlin said back in 2008 — when he was still alive! Kids need to play in the mud.

“I tell people, when they drop food on the floor, please pick it up and eat it,” says a dermatologist in Denver who treats people with allergies and autoimmune disorders.

On the other (unwashed) hand:

That excessively sterile upbringing — hand sanitizer, anyone? — means children’s immune systems aren’t able to develop properly and, as a result, malfunction. When you look at the statistics, they seem to support this idea. In developed countries, the number of kids who have asthma and allergies has been going up. … while data appears to back up the hygiene hypothesis, it’s not a complete picture. — University of Wisconsin Medicine.

The National Institutes of Health say:

Early exposure to a diverse range of “friendly” microbes — not infectious pathogens — IS necessary to train the human immune system to react appropriately to stimuli [BUT] … cutting back on personal hygiene will NOT have an impact on rates of chronic inflammatory and allergic disorders.

“It will, however, increase infections.”

Blaska needs researchers — to lick the door handles at Walmart and report back to me in two weeks.

What have you got to lose?