Germs generally evoke negative associations at first, which is somewhat natural when you consider what you hear every day. But excessive hygiene can also make you ill. Why? And whether germs are perhaps even positive for humans? We take a closer look at these questions below.
“You shouldn’t put everything in your mouth, who’s already touched it all?”, “Have you washed your hands?” Everyone knows these admonitions and questions from childhood. But with too much hygiene, our immune system actually misses out on an important training effect, for example in the so-called oral phase in infancy. This is because putting everything in our mouths leads to our body learning how to deal with the germs that make up our environment. On the one hand, this strengthens the immune system against potentially pathogenic germs and, on the other, it learns to classify harmless foreign substances (e.g. house dust, dog hair, pollen). Scientists even assume that increased hygiene and a lack of contact with these substances leads to the body reacting with an exaggerated defense reaction in the event of contact, which can then lead to allergies.
A life without germs?
In fact, many germs are essential for our survival. But before we delve deeper into the topic, let’s first clarify the question: What are germs anyway? By definition, these are viable microorganisms such as bacteria or fungi. The human body is full of them, a “planet full of life” so to speak (also known as the microbiome), predominantly colonized by organisms invisible to the human eye. On the skin and in the body of every human being there are around 39 trillion bacteria within this microbiome, which together weigh around 2 kilograms. That sounds incredible and a little disgusting at first, but these microbial “lodgers” perform countless important tasks. Among other things, they help with digestion, produce vital vitamins and amino acids and support our immune system, i.e. they influence and support our body and our health. For example, around 19,000 different types of bacteria live in the mouth. These help with digestion and at the same time protect us from pests. But bacteria are not only positive, they also produce acids during digestion, which can lead to tooth decay, bad breath or plaque.
Incredible – one hour after the birth
One hour after birth, the human body and all body surfaces in contact with the outside world are already colonized with several million germs. On the skin, germs support our defenses and the skin’s functions and natural skin barrier. The “tube” that runs through our body – the gastrointestinal tract – is also littered with germs. These include bifidobacteria, which are part of our natural intestinal flora and are particularly important immediately after birth. This is because they help us to digest breast milk. Numerous new bacteria enter the various parts of the body with breast milk and through touch. The colonization with the various bacteria and germs enables the formation of a network that makes the various functions of the body possible in the first place and finally forms a so-called protective wall against the outside world: our immune system. Incorrect colonization can in turn throw the system out of balance, resulting in pathological changes and thus, for example, lead to a disturbed skin barrier and, in addition to increased moisture loss from the skin, infections with bacteria and fungi. The consequences are complex: dry, cracked skin, herpes and even neurodermatitis or acne, to name just a few examples.
Have we managed to get you interested in the topic yet? In the next blog article, we will look at the question of how to deal with a false colonization and the incredible functions of these germs. Because our microalgae active ingredient Spiralin and thus the products from ocean pharma were developed for precisely this reason.
