Probiotics/yogurt for skin

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam and hello,

I have been more than curious about probiotics, but recently in their

use externally

Yogi Bhajan talks about taking a "Yogurt bath". Also, Robert Svoboda

talks about the alternatives to soap for bathing, as soap tends to strip

away the the natural bio-flora (the mantle) of the skin which allows

odor causing bacteria to move in. Have you ever noticed that sometimes

when you get around a person who is using perfume, that there are

actually two smells? One, the actual perfume, and two, the smell that

they are trying to cover up. For all their efforts at soap use and

scrubbing, they are actually making the situation worse, hence the need

for more perfume. It's a very vicious cycle and a catch 22. Such people

need to step back and do a different approach....poor thing.

Anybody out there with more, or any, information on this?

Thanks,

Dharam Singh

[Guest guest]

Dear Dharam,

soap indeed strips the skin of fatty acids which protect the skin and

nourish commensal bacteria that ferment these fats and other secretions

to make the skin slightly acidic, i.e. forming the acid mantle. I

recommend not using soap of any kind, just water, unless one is

actually dirty. For semi-regular use, a quick oil massage followed by

a scrub with chana or some similar dried legume powder. I use this

method when I work in the garden and my hands get dirty - rubbing my

hands in olive oil, which appears to act as a good solvent, after which

I'll use a little soap to remove the oil.

As for body odour, we need to look at the underlying, metabolic causes,

which might be diet (e.g. hing, garlic, coffee etc.), stress, ama, lack

of exercise, dysbiosis/poor digestion etc. If there appears to be no

underlying issue I try to recommend that folks find a natural scent

that combines well with their particular body odour, such as Sandalwood

EO for men, which seems to effectively mask the pungent high tones of

apocrine glands (located in the axilla and groin), which account for

the strong odour (as opposed to the more numerous eccrine glands which

secrete sweat). For women, Sandalwood with perhaps more floral

fragrances, e.g. Rosewood, Ylang, Jasmine etc. are quite nice.

Synthetic perfumes rarely mix all that well with natural body scent,

and often provoke negative responses in sensitive individuals.

Anti-perspirants which contain aluminium as the active ingredient are

IMO dangerous, although there is little clinical info to suggest this.

As for a yoghurt bath, well, sure why not? But here we are actually

only talking about the whey portion, which contains the bacteria, not

the yoghurt itself. But its not all that practical, and I doubt that

many would comply. Instead probiotics internally combined with the

above measures to my mind makes a little more practical sense. Caldecott, Cl.H., AHG

Clinical Herbalist

Wild Rose Clinic

******************************************* of Clinical Herbal Studies

Wild Rose College of Natural Healing

*******************************************

400 - 1228 Kensington Rd. NW

Calgary, AB T2N 5P6 CANADA

tel: (403) 270-0891 ext 315

fax: (403) 283-0799

email: phyto

http://www.wrc.net/phyto

*******************************************

[Guest guest]

Dear

Thank you very much for this clarification and new info (skin ph,

dermal glands, etc.). It's only in the last few weeks that I have put

down the soap. I have used olive and almond oil massage every morning

for years followed by a cold shower with brisk rubbing/scrubbing. I

haven't yet tried legume flour (chick pea flour aka Besan). Several

weeks ago, as an experiment, I slept with a acidophilous solution in my

armpits for several nights in a row with intention of restoring mantle

wellness because if there was any area of my body that I have certainly

used soap 2x a day, that would be it. So far, I think, I smell good but

I haven't had to deal with any major stressors, which is when I would

emit under arm odour. When the weather gets hot again (90F plus) I will

try the full body "yogurt".

"It's not just a body, it's an adventure"

Sat Nam,

Dharam Singh