There are so many things we do as human beings that some or a lot of people consider gross or unhygienic, but are they really? How bad is what we are doing or rather not doing on the daily?
1. Should you pee in the shower?
Yasssssss! (If you want to). People get so freaked out about this, but the reality is, what are you going into the shower to do exactly? You're marching in there to wash off all the dirt and stink you have accumulated on your body throughout the day. You are literally washing dirt, sweat, other fluids, etc. off your body, that then pour over your feet, and down the drain and you haven't died from that yet. As long as the water is flowing in the shower, there is no hygiene risk, especially considering you are in there with soap lathering and washing up anyway.
I'll also point you to the fact that you've been peeing on yourself since your days of infancy. What was done when you got pee on you back then or when you wet the bed...you hopped in the bath or you had someone wipe you up, and wallah, you're still alive. People pee in the showers all the time (I say people because you've probably been to camp, a dorm, a hotel room where you've 'shared' a shower with someone you didn't know) whether you've known about it or not, and you and they are still very much alive. Also, you could be saving a massive amount of water by killing two birds with one stone. Just saying.
2. Five second rule!!!!
This is the infamous rule that says, if you drop something on the floor, and scoop it up within five seconds, you can still safely eat it. Um...not so much. Studies and experiments have been done to show that things like E.coli, can contaminate food in just a few seconds, especially food that is moist, like dropping a slice of meat, or say a half eaten apple on the floor and then popping it in the mouth. It's probably best as a general rule, that you throw food away that has fallen to the floor.
Now having said that, and knowing that some people do adhere to the 5 second rule, I think most people have common enough sense to assess their surrounding and think hmm... eating that ice cream bar you just dropped in the gas station parking lot, not a good idea. Eating a cracker you just dropped on your kitchen floor, not the best idea, but you've already done it haven't you? Naughty naughty! But seriously, just toss it in the trash and call it a day.
3. Wearing two day old clothing
So, suddenly you've got to get out the door, and you pop on the jeans, the shirt, the shoes...the underwear?!? you wore yesterday? How gross is that? Well, everything is okay with that scenario, save for the underwear. There are about about 100 million E. coli bacteria in your used underwear which you don't want to make it a habit of re-using. The rest of the items are just going to contain bacteria which produce the odor you smell from sweat, if you were sweating a lot in your worn clothing. Generally the worst that will happen is you'll smell really bad, but it's not particularly harmful to anything but your ego or your dating potential to re-wear day old clothing sans your dirty underwear.
4. Walking around barefoot in public
Do you know how many times people have stepped in used gum, old food, dog poop, glass, miscellaneous fluids, through ant piles, you name it...in shoes...and now, you're the brave idiot who wants to do this without shoes?!? This one is a definite no-no. I can tell you, I know for a fact, because I've *shudder* seen it, at my local park, that not only are animals defecating in my local beautiful park, but so are humans. Ignorance is not bliss on this one.
There is so much waste and bacteria and fungus all over the ground, even in our own homes, especially for those that walk on their carpets tracking outside dirt and grime in. People who frequently walk without shoes tend to get warts and fungus on their feet which by walking around, they are helping to spread more of to those unlucky few who follow in their footsteps. Don't do it. This is definitely gross.
5. Not washing your hands after a trip to the bathroom
Here is a sobering statistic: just about 1 out of every 20 people routinely (that means in public AND at home) wash their hands after using the bathroom. According to a 2015 survey of 100,000 conducted by Initial Washroom Hygiene, 62 percent of men and 40 percent of women don't wash their hands after using the bathroom, but a whopping 93% and 94% of men and women claimed when asked directly, that they adhered to proper hygiene by washing their hands after every bathroom use. You may quietly and privately think to yourself, what's the big deal as you routinely skip out on the soap, but lack of hand washing is the overwhelming cause of food born illnesses.
And don't feel so smug just yet, if you are one of the few that does religiously wash your hands, because if you are sharing food made by or handled by someone else who does not wash their hands or you make the mistake of eating later in the day without first washing your own even after you've washed up after bathroom use, unfortunately you may become a victim of their lack of hygiene or your own. This one is definitely gross and you most certainly should be washing your hands after every go whether you're a guy, girl, it's pee or poop.
6. Not brushing/flossing
Your dentist is right to threaten you on this one. You can in fact, literally die from not brushing your teeth routinely in the long term. Heart studies have shown that it is actually a contributing factor in those that develop heart disease. Bacteria is rampant in the mouth, and of course brushing is the solution to clamp down on that. Lack of brushing and flossing will rot the gums, and teeth which on down the road can cause infection that effects other parts of the body and you will SMELL the immediate effects of your lack of proper hygiene. That horrible rotting sulfurous mouth smell is an indication to others of your poor health. Not a good look.
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