Worried about allergies? Get rid of your dishwasher
Childhood allergies are on the rise, and research suggests the modern lifestyle has a lot to do with it. If you want to decrease the…
The dishwasher is convenient, but is it really your friend? One study links it to the development of allergies. (Shutterstock)
Childhood allergies are on the rise, and research suggests the modern lifestyle has a lot to do with it. If you want to decrease the chances of children developing allergies, experts are now saying to take a step back from convenience–and kick that automatic dishwasher to the curb.
Washing dishes by hand may help decrease the likelihood of childhood allergies by as much as 40 percent, indicates research from Dr. Bill Hesselmar, an allergist at the University of Gothenburg Department of Pediatrics. It all has to do with exposing children to a safe level of pathogens during everyday life to help build their immune systems properly.
SEE ALSO: Is exposure the key to asthma and allergy prevention?
Allergies are the result of an overreaction of the immune system to harmless molecules?allergens?entering the body. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America notes allergies can be hereditary but they can also be the result of inexposure to the environment; in other words, the more pathogens and particles children are exposed to in their younger years, the less likely they will be to have extreme immune responses to those common allergens later in life.
This rationale is referred to as the “hygiene hypothesis.”
So what does washing dishes by hand have to do with allergen exposure? Researchers explain it has to do with the fact dishes are less clean when they are done by hand, and therefore expose the people using them to more bacteria and harmless particles.
Washing dishes by hand leaves more microbes to help boost the immune system. (Shutterstock)
“I think it is very interesting that with a very common lifestyle factor like dishwashing, we could see effects on allergy development,” Hesselmar told NPR. “The hypothesis was that these different dishwashing methods … are not equally good in reducing bacteria from eating utensils and so on. So we thought that perhaps hand dishwashing was less effective, so that you are exposed to more bacteria [in a good way].”
Researchers noted the dishwashing/allergy correlation remained true even when they took into account other known factors that reduce allergy incidence, like exposure to pets, attendance at a daycare, and parents’ allergy history. The only other influencing factor that decreased allergy risk even further among children eating off hand-washed dishes, was if they ate more fermented food or food directly off a farm (products thought to have higher natural contamination).
The findings add support to a growing belief that complete sterilization of the world around us is not in our best interests; however, there were some limitations within the study that experts cautions about.
SEE ALSO: A clever way to reduce your baby’s allergy and asthma risk
Though the bulk of research does suggest exposing children to microbes early in life will decrease their asthma and allergy risk, that exposure is most effective when a child is under 6 months of age, a time when most children would still be breast feeding and have limited exposure to hand-washed utensils.
It is possible, note experts, that more children are being bottle-fed as well, and bottle washing practices may mimic dish-washing practices as far as pathogen exposure.
