30 Sep, 2023 @ 08:38
1 min read

Stinking advice: Harvard study warns against showering every day

Mallorca homeowners in Spain surprised by naked man who used their shower
Cordon Press image

IF you want a healthy skin then stay out of the shower.

This is the message from a Harvard University study that says a daily shower can lead to skin problems such as dryness, irritation, itching, and infections.

The research, led by Robert Shmerling, indicates that daily cleansing can disrupt the balance of microorganisms on the skin.

And it may even promote the emergence of antibiotic-resistant organisms.

While the study warns against daily showering it does emphasis that neglecting personal hygiene altogether is probably even worse news with the growth of fungi between the toes and body odour the main risks.

According to experts, two to four showers per week are generally sufficient for maintaining hygiene, except for individuals with weakened immune systems.

The study also suggests that shorter showers, lasting approximately three minutes, with lukewarm water, are preferable to long, hot showers.

It recommends paying attention to the ingredients in skin-cleaning products, urging consumers to avoid products with petroleum derivatives or excessive fragrances, which can erode the skin’s protective layer and cause irritation.

For maintaining healthy skin, glycerin-based products with moisturising properties are recommended to soothe itching, create a natural protective barrier, and exfoliate while maintaining a pH-neutral balance.

This report may reignite a lively online debate about how often Spaniards shower compared to their European counterparts.

The discussion began when a Twitter user named Xavi Ruiz shared a graphic based on data from The Global Index and Wikipedia with percentages of inhabitants who shower every day. 

Graph showing how much Europeans shower
Twitter

For Spain, the figure is 75 to 84%, while in Italy the figure was 95% and above. France and the UK, meanwhile, came in at 65% or below, while neighbouring Portugal was at 85 to 94%. 

The tweet prompted a shower  of responses, with some users questioning the validity of the data and others arguing that a daily dose of water and soap is unnecessary, according to scientific studies.

Others pointed to the need in hotter countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy for more regular ablutions. “If it’s hotter, you are going to sweat more,” wrote one user. 

And of course there were plenty of jokes from Spaniards about the high figure for their own country.

“Then you catch the bus and you wonder where that high percentage is exactly,” wrote one user called Bahamut.

One Spanish user pointed to their experience at music festivals in the UK.

“At the showers in Glastonbury it was just foreigners in the queue,” he wrote. “And the only Europeans were Spaniards!”

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Dilip Kuner

Dilip Kuner is a NCTJ-trained journalist whose first job was on the Folkestone Herald as a trainee in 1988.
He worked up the ladder to be chief reporter and sub editor on the Hastings Observer and later news editor on the Bridlington Free Press.
At the time of the first Gulf War he started working for the Sunday Mirror, covering news stories as diverse as Mick Jagger’s wedding to Jerry Hall (a scoop gleaned at the bar at Heathrow Airport) to massive rent rises at the ‘feudal village’ of Princess Diana’s childhood home of Althorp Park.
In 1994 he decided to move to Spain with his girlfriend (now wife) and brought up three children here.
He initially worked in restaurants with his father, before rejoining the media world in 2013, working in the local press before becoming a copywriter for international firms including Accenture, as well as within a well-known local marketing agency.
He joined the Olive Press as a self-employed journalist during the pandemic lock-down, becoming news editor a few months later.
Since then he has overseen the news desk and production of all six print editions of the Olive Press and had stories published in UK national newspapers and appeared on Sky News.

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