Daily showers are purely ‘performative’ and have no real health benefit, experts insist
Call it perfume-ative hygiene.
nypost.com
Call it perfume-ative hygiene.
Experts say the daily shower has no proven health benefit, dismissing the dousing as a socially accepted practice geared toward staving off accusations of funkiness — as A-listers like Jake Gyllenhaal and Mila Kunis admit they’ve been saying no to the nozzle.
“Why are we washing? Mostly because we’re afraid somebody else will tell us that we’re smelling,” environmentalist Donnachadh McCarthy told the BBC.
The “Prostitute State” author only hoses off once per month to help the environment — a lifestyle choice inspired by spending two weeks in the Amazon with the indigenous Yanomami people, he said.
Every other morning, McCarthy told a reporter, he opts instead for a wash at the sink, using a cloth to give his body a good scrub.
And while abstaining from daily showers might seem like antisocial behavior, medical experts are inclined to lean toward agreeing with earthy types like McCarthy, saying that the modern obsession with cleanliness can actually be hazardous to one’s health.
Manhattan dermatologist Dr. Julie Russak previously told The Post that prolonged and daily showers could strip away the “skin’s microbiome,” which plays a role in protecting the skin and is “also extremely important in overall health of the body.”
Chemist David Whitlock was so adamant about preserving this dermal barrier that the bathing abstainer didn’t shower for 12 years, instead opting to spray himself with good bacteria that he claims neutralizes the body’s smell-making chemicals.
When asked about addressing critics, he told Vice: “Tell anyone who mocks you that they are betraying profound ignorance of the skin microbiome, and then walk away.”
