A preventative medicine physician and staff writer for The Atlantic explains the surprising and unintended effects of our hygiene practices in this informative and entertaining introduction to the new science of skin microbes and probiotics.
 
Keeping skin healthy is a booming industry, and yet it seems like almost no one agrees on what actually works. Confusing messages from health authorities and ineffective treatments have left many people desperate for reliable solutions. An enormous alternative industry is filling the void, selling products that are often of questionable safety and totally unknown effectiveness.

In Clean, doctor and journalist James Hamblin explores how we got here, examining the science and culture of how we care for our skin today. He talks to dermatologists, microbiologists, allergists, immunologists, aestheticians, bar-soap enthusiasts, venture capitalists, Amish people, theologians, and straight-up scam artists, trying to figure out what it really means to be clean. He even experiments with giving up showers entirely, and discovers that he is not alone.

Along the way, he realizes that most of our standards of cleanliness are less related to health than most people think. A major part of the picture has been missing: a little-known ecosystem known as the skin microbiome—the trillions of microbes that live on our skin and in our pores. These microbes are not dangerous; they’re more like an outer layer of skin that no one knew we had, and they influence everything from acne, eczema, and dry skin, to how we smell. The new goal of skin care will be to cultivate a healthy biome—and to embrace the meaning of “clean” in the natural sense. This can mean doing much less, saving time, money, energy, water, and plastic bottles in the process.

Lucid, accessible, and deeply researched, Clean explores the ongoing, radical change in the way we think about our skin, introducing readers to the emerging science that will be at the forefront of health and wellness conversations in coming years.

SOAP SAVES LIVES. But did you know that excessive use of soap and skin-care products is harming our health and the environment? Apart from in hand-washing there is no need to use soap on our bodies at all? Doctor and preventative medicine expert James Hamblin gave up showering five years ago and only ever uses soap on his hands. In Clean, he takes us on an irreverent and entertaining journey through our complex relationship with our bodies and cleanliness. Drawing on the latest science, he introduces a new way to think about cleanliness - one that is cheaper, simpler and better for our skin, our immunity and the world in which we live. * With a new afterword by the author * 'Fun, interesting and credible' New York Times 'Persuasive... Clean made me chuckle and then left me thoughtful' Daily Telegraph

Introducing the new science of skin and a more natural approach to being clean: Our skin plays an essential role in our health. But our understanding of what skin is and how it works is changing. Much of what we think of as cleanliness and skincare might actually be harming it. In Clean specialist in preventive medicine Dr James Hamblin draws on the latest science to offer an exciting new perspective: on our bodies, our health and our relationship with the natural world.

We treat our skin as a surface to be kept clean and clear, requiring daily application of soap, moisturisers and many other products. But while hygiene - and hand-washing especially - is essential to prevent the spread of disease, this attitude to skincare might actually be damaging our health.

In fact, our skin is a complex and diverse ecosystem, playing host to trillions of bacteria that are integral to our immune system. By removing them with soap, we potentially compromise the protection they afford. Not only is our overuse of soap and skincare products harming the environment, it is likely to be exacerbating or even causing many of the skin conditions we seek to remedy or avoid, and increasing our vulnerability to allergies.

In Clean, specialist in preventive medicine James Hamblin shows that this is a relatively recent development, and a healthier, simpler way is available. An irreverent and entertaining journey through our complex relationship with our bodies and cleanliness arrives at a new and scientific conception of skincare that is now taking hold: the cultivation of a healthy biome and a natural approach to being clean.