By Annie Wei (Beijing Today)
Updated: 2008-02-29 17:13

**Cleanliness is next to ... allergies

Among theories that weigh the effects of genetics and environment, the hygiene hypothesis is of the highest interest to many health professionals.

For ages, there has been a Chinese saying uganbujin, chile meibing,” meaning that eating excesively-cleaned food eradicates disease.

The increasing hygiene situation and a lack of exposure to various micro-organisms may be affecting the immune systems of many populations – particularly in highly developed countries like the US – to the degree that individuals are losing their bodily ability to fight off certain diseases

The theory of the “hygiene hypothesis” claims that risingncidences of asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and perhaps several other diseases may be, at least in part, the result of lifestyle and environmental changes that have made us too “clean” for our oown good.

The common belief that has driven medicine, as well as public perception and hygiene practices, is that when we get sick, it is because of something we ate, inhaled or were exposed to in some other way. The hygiene hypothesis points in a different direction, proposing that it is a lack of exposure to the “bad guys” that cause real harm

However, it does not mean that scientists agree that a toxic food environment has made children’s immune systems work bette. It’s hard to find an expert in the field who whole-heartedly supports the hygiene hypothesis yet.

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