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A very interesting reading tip Douwe Beerda
Researchers from Finland at the Natural Resources Institute (Luke) were able to prove what many people have long suspected. Too much hygiene, an urban lifestyle and insufficient contact with nature reduce the diversity in the microbes of our organ system. In short, this weakens our immune system. Due to too many homogeneous microbes (read too much of the same) we are more likely to develop diabetes, celiac disease and allergies.
A world first
They started working in daycare centers. These were given a facelift with forest undergrowth, sod and planters. Their target audience: children from 3 to 5 years old. In less than a month, the improvement of the immune system had improved significantly.
Dozens of comparative studies have previously shown that children who live in rural areas and are in contact with nature are less likely to contract a disease due to immune system disorders. A recent study shows that repeated contact with nature-like elements five times a week diversified the organ system microbes that protect against immune-borne diseases in childcare children.
Kudos to Aki Sinkkonen, researcher at Luke, who led the study that was published in Science. Read more about it here.