There’s something of a misconception out there that beards are somehow inherently “dirty”. That’s fuelled no doubt by those who don’t understand the importance of regularly washing their facial hair, or how to eat and drink without getting it all over their faces. However, new research is now pointing out that beards might actually be good for your health, despite rumors to the contrary.
Facial Hair and Bacteria
Beard critics like to point out that beards are ugly, unruly, and can often harbor all kinds of bad things, from lice to coliform bacteria (poo bacteria). A study in New Mexico found that there were actually traces of fecal bacteria in some randomly sampled beards in the state. However, a new, more scientific study conducted at a hospital is pointing out that clean-shaven men actually harbor more, and worse, bacteria than their beard-clad brethren.
The study was published in the Journal of Hospital Infection and the results were actually rather surprising. Overall, 408 staff were examined, both those with beards and those without. Those without beards were found to be much more likely to be carrying MSRA, or methicillin-resistant staph aureus. MSRA is a huge problem for hospitals, as it is resistant to antibiotics, and can be quite deadly.
Why did the bearded staffers not have higher levels of MSRA? Actually, it seems to stem directly from the beard itself. A further study found that when cultures were taken from men’s beards and then grown in a laboratory, a surprising thing happened. Most of the microbes were killed off by something else. That something else was staphylococcus epidermis. It was put to the test against a number of other microbes, including one responsible for urinary tract infections. In all instances, it won out and killed the other microbe. Think of it sort of like penicillin from the beard.
There were other interesting things discovered, as well. For instance, many beards yield up another substance that was found that actually prevented microbes from clinging to the surface of the facial hair. This prevented harmful bacteria from colonizing the beard in the first place.
When everything is said and done, you probably won’t be seeing a new beard-inspired antibiotic hit the market, but the evidence is clear – beards can actually help keep you healthier. There may even be applications developed from beard microbes for use in the oral health sector.
Source: BBC
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