Posted on 08/05/2019 7:48:33 PM PDT by DoodleBob
David Whitlock has not showered or bathed for 15 years, yet he does not have body odour. “It was kind of strange for the first few months, but after that I stopped missing it,” he says. “If I get a specific part of my body dirty, then I’ll wash that specific part” – but never with soap. As well as germs, soap gets rid of the skin’s protective oils and alters its pH level. Although Whitlock appreciated gaining an extra 15 minutes a day from soap-dodging, his primary motivation was to encourage friendly microbes to live on him in symbiotic harmony. The bacteria get to feast on the ammonia from his sweat and he gets low-maintenance, balanced skin.
Just as awareness of the importance of the gut microbiome has led to a boom in probiotic and fermented foods and supplements, there is increasing interest in our skin microbiome: the trillions of microbes that protect us from pathogens and keep us healthy by making vitamins and other useful chemicals. In this unprecedentedly sanitised era, in which eczema, acne and problems associated with dry skin are rife, consumers are hungry for solutions. Even the mainstream brand Dove claims vaguely that its products are “microbiome-gentle”.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
“Whitlock had hoped that he would naturally acquire this type of bacteria simply by stopping washing. He didn’t – and grew quite pongy. So, he harvested bacteria from the soil at a local farm and fed them with ammonia and minerals. When they turned the ammonia into nitrate, he knew he had what he wanted and started narrowing them down to a single strain that seemed happiest on human skin. After he applied the bacteria he had cultured – the stuff the horses were apparently after – he stopped smelling.”
I had to look up ‘pongy’. I thought it was going to mean smelly, but hell who knows with these loons. It’s actually a pretty neat story with the horse bacteria from the farm.
FReegards
I gather this has been popular in Europe for quite a while?
The modern religion is self-worship.
Your post made me look. I really expected a bearded hipster.
“I don’t smell”
Apparently not, since you’re oblivious to how badly you stink.
When I was young, I lived on a homestead with no electricity or running water. Baths were accomplished in a (freezing!) stream that traversed the property. In ideal circumstance it would happen once a week. When the elements conspired against the enterprise, it might not occur for two or three weeks.
I noticed horseflies, mosquitoes, and the like lost interest in me in the days leading up to bath day. As soon as I emerged from the stream and for about three days thereafter, they resumed their feasting. Perhaps it’s just me, I found it interesting that even something like human body odor serves a useful purpose.
The Lord wastes nothing.
The NoseBlind always think they don’t stink- and they are usually people who just love things like garlic, sardines, smelly cheese, and loads of liqueur that they sweat out the next day when the sun boils their innards-
I suppose people who eat bland, and don’t sweat easily might be ok for a little while- but my goodness- at least wash up in the morning-
The body resets (for want of a better term)the PH level of the skin after it has been washed. It does not remain altered.
I feel the same way about this guy...wouldn't it be easier to buy organic deodorant at Whole Foods?
I want some tests on this barnyard rolling madman, I don’t think the reporter even said that she personally didn’t smell him in the article. It does kind of make sense about all the skin conditions folks have now I guess.
Freegards
I was on a plane a few years ago from Portland to Houston, and a soccer team was on their way back to Africa. You could tell they didn’t bathe. The smell was horrible.
I know someone who stopped using shampoo and only washes his hair with water. I personally do not like that smell. I guess I’m too civilized. But we are not in the jungle. I like shampoo.
You smell, dude, you just can’t smell yourself anymore.
Sure.......
I remember a few people who never bathed. They stank to high heaven. One boy walked in a roller skating ring one winter and imediately stank up the entire area. I asked him to leave he stank so bad.
Bourke, in his book, On the Border With Crook, mentioned how the Pawnee stank so bad they would choke on their own smell if locked in a room.
I imagine the Pawnee would say to their wives that the Union soldiers would choke on their own smell if locked in a room.
Wouldn’t want to share an elevator with him
I might miss a few days of showering in the deep cold of winter but in the hot summer no way. One can take a bath and only lather the armpits and pelvic regions with soap and just rinse off the rest of the body if worrying about the skin.
Was in Asheville a couple of weekends ago and got several whiffs of unwashed bodies as they walked past.
When I was young and working in a warehouse a new hire smelled awful. After a few days some of us went to the manager who took the guy aside and asked him to wash his clothes and bathe.
After several days and no bath he was canned.
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