EARTHING, MUD BATHS, AND WELLBEING
Consider the fragrant and beautiful lotus flower—a symbol of divine perfection, especially for Hindus and Buddhists. It grows best in the mud. As the Vietnamese spiritual teacher Thich Nhat Hanh often says, “No mud, no lotus.” Although our culture tends to shun dirt—and often for good reason—maybe we have gone too far. A bit of mud can be a wonderful thing. Toddlers who find joy in splashy, squishy springtime mud puddles may be onto something. Anyone who gardens knows that digging in the earth makes them feel better, and now there’s science to back it up. “Good” bacteria form part of microbiomes that build our resistance to illness and fight the “bad” bacteria that cause infection. These microbiomes reside in specific environments, such as our gut, our skin, and the soil.
About the microbiome
In 2004, after learning about the successful results of using bacteria to treat drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis, a British oncologist injected the microorganism Mycobacterium vaccae (SRL172) into patients with non-small-cell lung cancer to see if it would strengthen their immune systems. It didn’t work, but there was a different and surprising result: When SRL172 was combined with chemotherapy, it significantly improved the quality of the patients’ lives.1
As indicated by their global health score (a standardized measure of respondents’ evaluation of their health), those who received the injections of bacteria were happier and livelier, and had improved cognitive function.
In part because of this, three American and international research groups—the University of Chicago, the Marine Biological Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory—have joined together to form the Microbiome Center, a coordinated interdisciplinary research group. Its director, Jack Gilbert, explains that the microbes in our guts communicate with our brains in several ways.2 They activate the immune system and produce neurotransmitters (chemical messengers between nerve cells), including 90% of our serotonin. This is important because serotonin contributes to happiness and wellbeing. Targeted treatments using the microbiome show promise in treating people suffering from PTSD and depression.
All this research boils down to something quite simple: Encourage your children to play in the mud! It’s definitely worth the cleanup time. According to the pediatric neurologist Maya Shetreat-Klein MD, author of The Dirt Cure (2016), when we kill “bad” bugs—whether insects or germs—by over- or misusing pesticides, antibiotics, and hand sanitizers, we’re also killing the “good” bugs that prevent ailments such as asthma, allergies, eczema, and other autoimmune problems. That’s why Shetreat-Klein is often quoted as saying, “The cleaner we are, the sicker we seem to get.”
How can we go about getting just the right amount of dirt? There are plenty of simple ways to meet your MDDR—Minimum Daily Dirt Requirement. Start by forgoing hand sanitizers, and consider your medicine before you take it and your food before you eat it. I think the best way to do this last is to eat organically grown fruits and vegetables as close to where they’ve been grown as possible. You’ll certainly consume fewer pesticides, and probably a little more healthy dirt, since local, farm-grown food tends to be less sterilized and scrubbed than factory-grown. (A warning to pregnant women and anyone with a compromised immune system: wash food thoroughly to remove soil-borne toxoplasmosis.)
When it comes to small children, it may be a simple matter of encouraging them to dig in the dirt and sit on the grass, if you have access to a bit of lawn or some flowerpots. Little ones love observing bugs and small creatures, and organizing activities or adventures around such basic interests will not only get them in contact with dirt, but also give them a break from television and small screens. As children get older, encourage outdoor sports, hiking, camping, or helping in the garden. Ask your school what programs they provide to get kids outdoors—perhaps fossil-hunting for a geology curriculum or taking local soil samples for biology study.
Eat dirt?
Of course, the beneficial effects of healthy gut bacteria aren’t limited to children. Eat dirt—if that’s your thing! It’s called geophagy, which the dictionary defines as “the practice of eating earthy substances (such as clay) that in humans is performed especially to augment a scanty or mineral-deficient diet or as part of a cultural tradition.”
It’s not completely crazy. Many sources explain that the reason animals and people eat soil, which is after all organic material—the stuff of plants and animals, or a salad and steak in a different form—is to ingest minerals such as iron and calcium that are necessary for our dietary health. The nutritional anthropologist Sera Young expands on this by explaining that clay works as a type of purifying filtration system, and that “it is often used to clean up massive oil spills and absorb unwanted scents from places (think kitty litter) … it may have a similar effect in the human body, acting as a mud mask for the gut.”3
Young isn’t talking about the clay you might dig up in your backyard, but rather about the chalky clay kaolin, from the mineral kaolinite, which is common all over the world, and eaten as a folk remedy in the American South. The science is still pretty sketchy, and the process unappealing, so I’m not going to take up geophagy at this point in my life. Fortunately, there are other, more pleasant ways to contribute to a good gut microbiome and get a modest amount of dirt into our systems. One way is to eat a variety of foods, especially:
• A plant-based diet of fruits, vegetables, and legumes—stuff that grows in the dirt. Potatoes, beets, leeks, onions, and garlic are particularly suitable. (Potatoes eaten with the peel contain about twice as much potassium as bananas, and are rich in magnesium, among other nutrients.)4
• Fermented foods such as yogurt and kimchi, which contain Lactobacillus, bacteria that contribute to gut health and may even fight inflammation.5
• Prebiotic foods—foods that are high in fiber, such as wholegrains—that require other bacteria, such as Bifidobacterium, to break them down, lowering the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.6
• Deep-colored foods such as cocoa and blueberries that are rich in polyphenols, plant compounds that reduce blood pressure, inflammation, and cholesterol. Polyphenols aren’t always absorbed efficiently or quickly by human cells, so they must work their way down to the colon, where they can “feed” or be digested by good bacteria.7
Alcohol, antibiotics, smoking, and stress all have a negative impact on our gut bacteria, so limit or avoid as appropriate.
Earthing
All this shows that there’s more to dirt than just, well, dirt. But it’s unlikely that we’ll be injecting ourselves with Mycobacterium vaccae or snacking from our window boxes anytime soon. As well as eating fresh fruit and vegetables, there are other ways of getting your minimum daily requirement. That’s why the earthing movement is catching on. (Some say it’s the next forest bathing!) Earthing involves walking barefoot and connecting directly to the soil without the barrier of pavement or shoes. It is a matter of contact with our soil, our planet, of truly touching the earth. More a question of appreciation than a scientific concept, earthing is also a way of connecting to others celebrating nature.
Some people take the idea a step farther, reaching beyond the biological material to the electromagnetic charge generated by our planet. The science is still fairly new and limited on this subject, but interesting nonetheless. According to the Journal of Inflammation Research, studies done in several disciplines have shown how grounding or earthing—the electrically conductive contact between human bodies and the Earth’s surface—seems to have an effect on health. Sparking this connection between people and the ground we walk on may diminish inflammation, enhance immunity and wound healing, and prevent or even treat chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Grounding may also lessen pain by altering the numbers of circulating white blood cells (neutrophils and lymphocytes) affecting inflammation.8 It sounds promising and will certainly bear more research.
Think of the non-scientific meaning of the word “grounded”—balanced, sensible, understanding what’s important in life—and it follows that standing firmly on the earth, bonded to where we came from and where we’ll end up, will have an impact.
Mud baths
If walking barefoot isn’t your thing, consider fangotherapy—a mud bath! Studies have shown that applying mud to the skin can relieve psoriasis and atopic dermatitis as well as rosacea, eczema, acne, and generally itchy skin. Fangotherapy has also had proven results in treating neurological, rheumatologic (osteoarthritis), and even some cardiovascular disorders.9 Researchers at the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, Israel, found that using mudpacks and mineral-water soaks to absorb minerals through the skin may benefit our immune system. For example, sulfur baths have been successfully used to treat types of dermatitis and psoriasis, and have shown potential in regulating the skin’s immune response as a treatment for allergic reactions.10
Where the mud comes from determines its benefits. It’s those microbes again! The scientists at the Kaplan Medical Center analyzed mud from the Dead Sea, which is especially rich in organic substances such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium, and not the mud you might dredge up from the bottom of your local lake, for example. The makeup of the mud not only allows nutrients to be absorbed into the skin, but also means that it retains heat for a long time, stimulating blood flow—nature’s heating pad.
A trip to the Dead Sea or even to a spa in Calistoga, California, where a mud bath costs upward of $100, isn’t a possibility for most of us. However, we can replicate some of the results at home.
1. Make some mud. Don’t even think about dipping into your flowerpots—“clean” dirt is key. Bentonite clay or Fuller’s earth (both inexpensive—about $10 per pound in the US—and available online or from health-food stores) are the best bet.
2. Mix it with water until it reaches a workable muddy consistency, not soupy but not powdery either. I use filtered or distilled water because to my mind it seems purer, but in truth, tap water is likely fine.
3. Use the mud to make a face mask. My son loves this because it really scrubs his pores. (First, test it on a small patch of skin for about 10 minutes and wait for an hour or two to make sure you don’t have any sensitivities.) Simply apply a thin paste of the mud, let it soak in and dry thoroughly for about twenty minutes, wash off completely, and moisturize as much as you need to. (And don’t forget to clean the sink!) You will find that your skin looks cleaner because the mud has bonded with and absorbed oils, and that it has a bit of a glow, because when you removed the mud it took dead skin cells with it.
4. This is my favorite part: get your hands dirty! I like to coat my hands with the mud mixture and let it dry. Like everyone, I use my hands constantly for everything from typing to cooking, and the mud soak feels therapeutic, kind of warm and toning, especially if I take the time to sit in the sun while it’s drying. Once the mud has dried fully, rinse and scrub it off. This makes my hands feel remarkably clean and look a little younger, and hopefully I’ve absorbed some minerals in the process.
5. Mud can be applied to injuries, such as a sprained wrist or an arthritic knee. Although the term “mud pack” is commonly used, what is really meant is a thick mask—a heavy application of mud that is allowed to dry over the affected area. Again, heat will help, and the line between taking the time to attend to the muscle and the powers of mud itself is a blurry one.
Warning
Remember that because mud is all about bacteria, you shouldn’t put it on an open wound or use it with infants or the immune suppressed.
As you’re experimenting with mud, remember this verse from “Music” by the nineteenth-century American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson:
’Tis not in the high stars alone,
Nor in the cup of budding flowers,
Nor in the redbreast’s mellow tone,
Nor in the bow that smiles in showers,
But in the mud and scum of things
There alway, alway something sings.
