http://www.slate.com/id/2175569/pagenum/all/

This is only half the problem.

Back when food was more likely to be contaminated by bacteria, people were more likely to drink alcoholic beverages with every meal. A quick way to kill e. coli is a few shots of scotch (or a lot of beer).

One of the original reasons CocaCola was invented was as an "elixir", good for what ails you, especially stomach aches. It was carbonated water (which was, at that time, used to sterilize operating theaters), cocaine, and cola syrup which was commonly used as a base for cough syrup. That's why it was originally sold at pharmacies. Good for what ails you.

Carbonated water, beer, scotch, all tend to kill-off e. coli or at least mitigate the effects. With American paranoia about alcoholism, more Americans are susceptible to e. coli's effects.

I keep CS handy, just in case, as it kills e. coli:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1515839...0,f1000m,isrctn

"The antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles against E. coli was investigated as a model for Gram-negative bacteria...
The results confirmed that the treated E. coli cells were damaged, showing formation of "pits" in the cell wall of the bacteria, while the silver nanoparticles were found to accumulate in the bacterial membrane. A membrane with such a morphology exhibits a significant increase in permeability, resulting in death of the cell. These nontoxic nanomaterials, which can be prepared in a simple and cost-effective manner, may be suitable for the formulation of new types of bactericidal materials."

There have been many people, both medical professionals and others, who have predicted an ever-growing problem with resistance to pathogens, toxins, etc due to lack of exposure during the critical formative years of our youth.

This has been backed up partially by studies indicating that children who are not exposed to potential allergens like pet dander, grass clippings, dirt are at a higher risk of developing allergies to such substances.

There have been similar claims when it comes to the venom of bees and the like, but I have not seen any study that supports this claim as the allergen study was supported.

There was also a Dr. from Australia who recommended that children be encouraged to pick their nose and eating the dried mucus.

The original article was back in 2005 and I can only find blog comments about the original story.

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=271

Of course, this is a bit extreme I think.

But back to the original thought, there have been plenty of articles and related studies citing how kids who play in the dirt have healthier immune systems.

And according to this article, it can make you feel better as well.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6509781.stm



Are there some backyard farmers here that can attest to the happy feeling generated by gardening? It is not uncommon to hear of such a reaction to gardening in general as therapy?