Many months ago, I was reading a news item about an economic collapse in a country in South America, and one of the people interviewed said, "We can't even buy soap..." A comment below the article said, "You don't need soap," and had a link to a blog about washing with no soap or shampoo.
I no longer have a link to the original blog, but the gist of the essay was that the writer met a man one time that seemed to always be surrounded by women. The women just seemed drawn to him somehow. The man had beautiful black hair, but otherwise had no cologne, aftershave, etc. When the writer asked him why women were attracted to him, he said he used no soap or shampoo, and the natural pheromones produced by his body is what attracted the opposite sex.
The writer went home and threw out his soaps and shampoos and started washing with just water, as he'd been directed. Soon, the body odor was becoming annoying, but he persevered. Then one day after he had spent a hot afternoon working in the yard and was covered with sweat, he came in and showered off with just water, and amazingly enough, he no longer had a body odor!
So, curious to see if this method would work, I tried washing with just water. I had a slight body odor and my hair was not as silky as I liked. Then, I started a new exercise regimen. I made up a YouTube playlist of some good, jazzy songs that I liked and started exercising to the music. The first time I did that, I went and showered -- with no soap -- and amazingly enough, I no longer had any body odor! This lack of stench lasted into the next day, as well!
Now, I have to put a disclaimer here: I am not interested in attracting any members of the opposite sex other than my husband! The reason I am interested in this method of hygiene is because we spend a lot of money on soaps and shampoos, and if I can get satisfactory results without them, that saves me money. Plus, there may come a time when I don't have access to a store full of health and beauty aids, and it would be good to have already experimented with staying clean without them.
My little experiment confirmed to me what the writer of the essay had found: That God made our body to stay clean all on its own, without any chemicals, but that we are meant to get out and sweat in the out-of-doors before we come in to wash.
A secondary benefit to this method is I avoid daily exposure to man-made substances that could be in the soaps that might be harmful to my body. So many people seem to be sick or on medication these days, and half the time nobody knows why.
Which brings me to Health and Hygiene Tip #2...
Don't use deodorant. Many of the deodorants on the market have aluminum in them, and aluminum has been implicated in the rising incidence of Alzheimer's Disease in the United States. If you get used to washing with just water as I've explained above, this would do away with your need to use deodorants.
To eliminate the ingestion of aluminum, I even avoid using aluminum cookware in my kitchen. Stainless steel, cast iron, and glass (Pyrex) are my cookware of choice.
We can not avoid all exposures to toxins in our environment, but the closer we stay to nature and the way God intended our bodies to function, the healthier we'll be.
I no longer have a link to the original blog, but the gist of the essay was that the writer met a man one time that seemed to always be surrounded by women. The women just seemed drawn to him somehow. The man had beautiful black hair, but otherwise had no cologne, aftershave, etc. When the writer asked him why women were attracted to him, he said he used no soap or shampoo, and the natural pheromones produced by his body is what attracted the opposite sex.
The writer went home and threw out his soaps and shampoos and started washing with just water, as he'd been directed. Soon, the body odor was becoming annoying, but he persevered. Then one day after he had spent a hot afternoon working in the yard and was covered with sweat, he came in and showered off with just water, and amazingly enough, he no longer had a body odor!
So, curious to see if this method would work, I tried washing with just water. I had a slight body odor and my hair was not as silky as I liked. Then, I started a new exercise regimen. I made up a YouTube playlist of some good, jazzy songs that I liked and started exercising to the music. The first time I did that, I went and showered -- with no soap -- and amazingly enough, I no longer had any body odor! This lack of stench lasted into the next day, as well!
Now, I have to put a disclaimer here: I am not interested in attracting any members of the opposite sex other than my husband! The reason I am interested in this method of hygiene is because we spend a lot of money on soaps and shampoos, and if I can get satisfactory results without them, that saves me money. Plus, there may come a time when I don't have access to a store full of health and beauty aids, and it would be good to have already experimented with staying clean without them.
My little experiment confirmed to me what the writer of the essay had found: That God made our body to stay clean all on its own, without any chemicals, but that we are meant to get out and sweat in the out-of-doors before we come in to wash.
A secondary benefit to this method is I avoid daily exposure to man-made substances that could be in the soaps that might be harmful to my body. So many people seem to be sick or on medication these days, and half the time nobody knows why.
Which brings me to Health and Hygiene Tip #2...
Don't use deodorant. Many of the deodorants on the market have aluminum in them, and aluminum has been implicated in the rising incidence of Alzheimer's Disease in the United States. If you get used to washing with just water as I've explained above, this would do away with your need to use deodorants.
To eliminate the ingestion of aluminum, I even avoid using aluminum cookware in my kitchen. Stainless steel, cast iron, and glass (Pyrex) are my cookware of choice.
We can not avoid all exposures to toxins in our environment, but the closer we stay to nature and the way God intended our bodies to function, the healthier we'll be.