Link- HERE

I first heard about this stuff in a documentary on Radio 4 about gardening and potting with your bare hands. About how all the old dears feel much better about everything in general after doing so.

Here it is written up for mountain bikers. Quite useful to know for people who spend their leisure time covered in mud.

I’ve read before that exercise in the woods/amongst greenery is better than exercise in an urban environment, which I guess comes from this… you’re presumably still exposed to this bacteria even if you’re not right in amongst it

It can also contain the bacteria that causes Tetenus as well so I wouldn’t rub it around too much unless your boosters are up to date.

The article is a bit short on the science side of it though, would be able to absorb enough through the skin to have a measurable effect?

There may be more at play here as I think anyone would agree biking, or walking or any thing out in ‘nature’ is more therapeutic than cycling through Doncaster.
Better light, fresher air, the smell of trees and plants and little creatures scuttling about.

I’m not dismissing the idea, far from it.. But in the absence of more accurate studies I’d hypothesise that exposure to this bacteria (or more accurately it’s useful chemicals) has a limited effect, which is boosted cumulatively by other factors such as doing something constructive/creative, better light, cleaner air etc.

On a separate matter but relative to the op – a while ago i was listening to the radio and they explained one of the reasons that the air smells so particular after a shower of rain in the summer is/may be due to the bacteria in soil reacting to the rain as it fell, the strength of the scent is related to the size/density and severity of the rain.

Fascinating eh? 😉

Yes I did.
Lots of research about soil and spores from fungus being great for mental and physical well-being.

20 mins walk in green space is all it takes to up mood, increase cognitive performance and improve physical performance. The green space is at important as the gentle or moderate exercise.
You can show pictures of forests in classrooms and improve behavior and cognitive performance.
A walk in the park or forest and straight into an exam is equivalent to 5%/grade performance increase.
Walking to school via green spaces increase student exam performance by one whole grade average across exams.

early experiences of green space in life means a greater likelihood of pro environmental behaviors and healthier lifestyle including eating and physical activities.

Message: get your toddlers out in the woods and mucky often. Get young children walking to school and mucky in the woods and get teens to walk everywhere… And value green space…

I find it very interesting, if you’re out at dawn break in the country side for example, dew heavy on the ground, crisp air, nice organic smells, nice light, silence other than natural sounds. .. Definitely calming and uplifting compared to being in a built up area which by comparison I find just damp and miserable under the same conditions.

There must be a number of mechanisms at work here.. It’d be interesting to understand the science of exactly why this is.

But in the absence of more accurate studies I’d hypothesise that exposure to this bacteria (or more accurately it’s useful chemicals) has a limited effect

To be fair it’s on Pinkbike so understandably light on science. Just Google mycobacterium vaccae lung cancer and there’s a lot to get started on. Like this- LINK

a while ago i was listening to the radio and they explained one of the reasons that the air smells so particular after a shower of rain in the summer is/may be due to the bacteria in soil reacting to the rain as it fell,

I also thought that your nose is more sensitive when it’s damp on the inside. Which is why wet foliage smells so strongly and why it properly stinks when you fart in the bath.

Found some info as to what makes rain smell so good?

Yes I did.
Lots of research about soil and spores from fungus being great for mental and physical well-being.

Matt – got any links to this research? It links in with what I’ve read elsewhere and own experience but it’d be good to read some primary sources.

I also rememeber reading somewhere about the colour green improving mood, which ties in to a forest environment.

I’m not disagreeing with whats being said here, but why then do farmers have such a high suicide rate?

I just so happen to be doing my PhD on this very subject, in the lab of Chris Lowry, who has pretty much pieced this whole field together.

Some further reading for those interested on the Hygiene Hypothesis in general

It’d be interesting to study the long term health of say roadies and MTBers of comparable fitness, and perhaps runners who stay in urban environments vs off-road runners.

In an effort to separate the fitness benefits from the mud-related benefits. Actually, cyclists consisting of muddy and non-muddy equivalents could be an important study group for this.

I’d also wonder if the ‘old friend’ pathogens in Kitz Chris’s link are the same all over the world. So if you come from a long line of Europeans and your family moves to say Canada, does that have an effect?

It’d be interesting to study the long term health of say roadies and MTBers of comparable fitness, and perhaps runners who stay in urban environments vs off-road runners.

Indeed. Also the from a mechanical point of view. Every keen runner I know has knee/hip/shin-related injuries from impact on concrete and running off road is generally reckoned to be far healthier in that respect.
In terms of cycling – I’ve broken 3 bones falling off my MTB and nothing from road biking – so it’d be interesting to see the overall measure, comparing mental/emotional benefits vs physiological vs mechanical

Spores and stuff from soil can also result in pneumonia, as my Dad found from pulling up stuff in the garden.

Exercise though is amazingly good as an anti depressant. Riding out in nature is a mental boost, and country smells stimualte positive feelings or relaxation.

Risks with MTB, absolutely. I’ve broken far more in a short period of MTB than I have during my entire life. It’s worth the risk though. Fitness from riding though just comes from riding, a lot. Hills especially.

matt Message: get your toddlers out in the woods and mucky often. Get young children walking to school and mucky in the woods and get teens to walk everywhere… And value green space…

Great post particularly that part.

Im amazed at how we now even market antibacterial washing machine soap for goodness sake.

Apparently the only good house is one devoid of bacteria, if you don’t ensure that your obviously a bad parent. Or so all these ridiculous ads very subtly infer. Hermetically seal your kids up, or else.

Get kids out and into the biodiversity out there at a young age so they can build resistances up AND get to appreciate the outdoors too, bonus!

You would think we’d learn from the rise in children developing intolerance to even tiny amounts of nuts in food.

Research has now shown its children kept away from the stuff that are more likely to later develop an allergy to it!

Theres a lesson there. Let your kids go out and live rather than wrapping them in cotton wool and locking them indoors all day to go on the net.

Also, let them eat nuts. Yes, yes, only whole when they are from a safe age to stop chocking etc etc.

Very interesting. I used to do a lot of trail digging in my past and always felt good afterwards. Probably unrelated but interesting nonetheless.

Apparently the only good house is one devoid of bacteria, if you don’t ensure that your obviously a bad parent. Or so all these ridiculous ads very subtly infer. Hermetically seal your kids up, or else.

I agree. My other half does not, it’s a battle of me hiding the anti-bac gel and her sploshing it on everytime we go anywhere. if I protest it’s because obviously I ‘want them to get ill’.

I struggle with my dear lady too in this respect. The problem is that she doesn’t have the right educational background to understand the issues and is therefore informed by marketing. The fact that I’m an Environmental Scientist by education and profession is entirely negated because I’m her husband and therefore clearly know nothing.

The mind set of females remains utterly inscrutable to me.

I compensate by rolling the kids in filth at every opportunity I get. It helps to have a spaniel and a daughter into horse riding.

I just so happen to be doing my PhD on this very subject, in the lab of Chris Lowry, who has pretty much pieced this whole field together.

Some further reading for those interested on the Hygiene Hypothesis in general

Lucky to live in Boulder as well. I spent about 3 months living out of a mates flat at the ens of Pearl Street

I remember reading all that bacteria and hygiene when my son was little. A sample space of one isn’t science but he was asthmatic until he was 18 months when we put him in the garden to roam, where ate soil. No Asthma since….

On the other hand you want to avoid bacteria from animal effluent as some of them bacteria is nasty