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points by saturn8601 1 day ago | 0 comments

I didn't think of it before but now I won't be able to avoid thinking about it. I got to carry one of those rubber styluses whenever I go to fast food places now. :/

[–] kulahan 1 day ago

Unless there is some immunity problem in your body, this will only make you sicker over time. Your body handles random bacteria just fine. It doesn’t handle being prevented from experiencing any dangerous interactions for 5 years straight, then trying to fight off an infection with a severely undertuned immune system.

Touch things with your hands. Your body literally needs it to be healthy. Avoiding it ONLY makes you sicker in the end.

[–] Lio 15 hours ago

Consider that bacteria are not the only things you could pick up. There's plenty of other parasites to choose from.

There is a reason we ask people to wash their hands.

You're immune system is probably not going to improve on exposure to worm eggs or larvae for example.

To take it to an absurd extreme, if you come across an unflushed public toilet you're not going to drink from it with the hope of boosting your immune system... are you?

[–] kulahan 10 hours ago

And to take it to the other absurd extreme, you’re not going to throw away all foods that aren’t kept in a sterile vacuum until the moment it’s consumed… are you?

I’m arguing against being overly-concerned with hygiene to the point that you cannot even handle touching everyday objects without a significant disgust factor. You’re talking about licking toilets. Come on bro.

[–] tempaccount420 1 day ago

This is a dangerous (and common) misconception about the immune system.

[–] SirMaster 1 day ago

It's a misconception that the immune system builds future resistance from past infections?

[–] kulahan 1 day ago

Most of your immune system training occurs in the stomach where, predictably, an absolutely enormous amount of foreign matter enters your body. This is standard medical teaching.

[–] simondotau 1 day ago

Then shouldn't we just eat diseases to build immunity?

[–] kulahan 1 day ago

We do, all the time, by simple manner of eating foods that are exposed to air.

But if you’re asking if we should try to cram more than usual in there, I couldn’t tell you. I’m not an immunologist, so I don’t know how easy it is or is not to overload it, nor if it even works for all types of contagious infection agents. Some are probably highly resistant to gastric environments.

[–] saturn8601 1 day ago

I mean its not like I dont touch anything. Its just that the workflow for mcdonalds is touch touchscreen -> pick up food that you hold with your hands -> consume said food with potential bacteria now on the food. This wouldn't be the case for sit down fork and knife dining.

I totally agree with exposing immune system...but at the same time, I guess I am weak enough that there is still downtime in the aftermath when I go out into the city(especially during seasonal transitions and when visiting busy packed rooms).

You don't have to have the other extreme of touching every dirty spot especially in a org like mcdonalds which is more likely than not to have people who dont respect basic hygiene. At the same time you dont need the extreme of not touching anything. There is a middle ground.