When you come down with a bad case of the sniffles or an unruly cough, our 21st century sensibilities say you need to wash your hands even more and make sure to get rid of all the germs. But research suggests that exposure to greater biodiversity, especially when it comes to bacteria and microbes, may be what actually helps prevent allergies and weakened immune systems.
A study in Finland found that individuals who lived in houses surrounded by a greater diversity of life, closer to the wilds of nature, were covered with different kinds of microbes. They were also less likely to show the telltale immunological signs of allergies.
Less bio-diverse systems such as grasslands, forests, or the tiny life-forms on our skin and in our guts, are less resilient and at greater risk of invasion (whether by pathogens or weeds) than more diverse systems, according to the research.
One way to think about the study was that the key was bacteria; the lock was our immune systems. It is feasible that urban dwellers are too distant from microbial nature for their immune systems to develop properly. The more in touch with the grit and dirt of nature, our protection against allergies and illness becomes stronger and more fully developed.
Learn more about the benefits of biodiversity here.
