Some time ago, in the "Proceedings of the California Institute of Public Health" (edition LXVII, 1998) published an article by Professor Lozovsky on the causes of aging of the human body caused by gossip among scientists and controversy.
Mr. Yury Lozovsky was invited to perform in England at the Congress "Cultural traditions and human health at the turn of the millennium." Here's an interview with the scientist:
- Yuri, the circulation of "labor", where was your publication seems to be only two hundred copies. There is no electronic version of the publication. Would you be kind enough to begin to introduce readers in brief into the matter?
- Willingly. Why do it all began? As you know, in the Soviet Union carried out extensive research on of longevity. Was created in the USSR Academy of Sciences Institute of Gerontology, appeared in the press materials (in particular, in the "Ogonyok"), to shoot a documentary. The findings were generally quite superficial. Caucasian, Siberian and other centenarians live so long because a lot of physical labor involved in the fresh air, eat rationally, emotionally balanced their lives.
If we could discover the "elixir of youth", and today we have lived under Brezhnev. But infirmity "of the Kremlin old men" had to fight drugs, mostly imported, which gave some results, but not to extend their lives.
We have tried different centenarians found something in common - and found nothing. Some of them, for example, were vegetarians, but others ate meat, drank some wine, and others do not, some of them smoking, and others never. Some have always lived with his wife, or even in old age married young. And others have been ascetics. Add to this the difference in climatic conditions, of centenarians social status, religious and ethnic features. In short, no common sign, which could be factored out, was not found.
Until then, until I noticed another sign of a more or less common to all. Just let your readers before reading the interview on, take a deep breath
The fact is that all the people who lived 120 - 150 years old, as if to say, not very to follow the traditional rules of hygiene. In short, rarely washed themselves, and if washed, without soap is that in rural areas, where, as a rule, they have lived a thing explainable. At first we did not really matter that gave. Well, the city dweller accustomed to bathe often, as a resident of a mountain village was not used ... And then I and my colleagues started thinking.
- From your story it is clear that you have spent quite a convincing experiments.
- That was then. First, we are still thinking. Because someone suddenly remembered a long, 30-ies, but the sensational story at the time when the Soviet authorities finally got to the suburbs, the young teachers, Komsomol members began to actively preach a healthy lifestyle among the northern and immediately Peoples was a demographic catastrophe. Among the Evenki, Chukchi, Nenets, who were forced to wash with soap and water, began an enormous mortality. Doctors shrug, but pretty quickly found that soap destroyed the natural protective fatty layer that protects the skin always natives, and now she was defenseless against microorganisms.
Human skin has three vital functions - suction, excretory and protective. Over millions of years of biological existence of human ancestors and himself have been adjusted to function like clockwork. Continuing the analogy, imagine if in the clock mechanism somebody even think to climb with a washcloth and soap. It turns out that something like this every time we We perform on our body when taking a bath. First of all blocked excretory function. It is caused by a reaction to the hot humidity of the epidermis and, most importantly, the composition of the detergent. The body automatically activates defense mechanisms, not covered by all previous experience of evolution.
The protective function provides two levels of protection - the biological and energy. Special glands cover the surface of the body is extremely thin film of fat. This coating - a sort of spacesuit that protects the body from the aggressive environment. And we live in is in it. In a typical city air at 1 cm3 has 5 - 7 million. Microorganisms and about twice as much dust particles. This biological spacesuit, we strip off yourself whenever the three body washcloth. Full recovery coverage requires 24 to 48 hours.
Energy security - this is such a charged surface of the body, which repels micro-objects that fill the living space around us. Normal body surface positive charge repels them, not allowing them to settle on the skin. But after a person took a bath, skin surface charge is reversed, and micro-organisms, bacteria and dust particles for 18 - 20 hours just stick to the surface of the body. That's why so often we get sick after being showered, and not due to hypothermia.
And finally, the last: the suction function of the skin. Here it is, unfortunately, does not suffer at all in the process of washing. Unfortunately - because of its activity at this time rises to 8 - 12 times. And all the toxins that have allocated the body with soap and water are absorbed into the muscle tissue and then into the bloodstream. For a while it almost doubled lowers immunity. Numerous experiments have confirmed this.
- If so, why this view has not received proper distribution both in scientific circles and in society?
- Research results suppressed because affected the interests of the whole industry for the production of all kinds of detergents, as these multinationals are among the richest in the world. Next to them, you can put only tobacco and wine and liquors concerns: while the science was able to prove all the harm their products on each pack of cigarettes has a warning about the dangers to health, it did not shake their bastions. Similarly, the production of detergents brings multibillion stable income provides millions of jobs.
Fires force of habit. As people are accustomed to destroy the heart and lungs with tobacco, and the nervous system and the liver by alcohol, just taught us to wash themselves all kinds of chemistry that adversely by the results. According to the World Health Organization - the data of twenty years ago - if in developed countries have been ruled out alcohol and tobacco consumption, life expectancy would increase it by 18 - 26%. But who remembers these figures? And to whom they have to deal? Failure to use chemicals while washing, if not all of us make long-lived, at least lengthen the life of the present generation is not for another decade.
The use of detergents - a creation of European civilization, and very recent. For thousands of years in the traditions of other civilizations did not have this habit. Take the Ancient East, Hellas, India, China and even America before the arrival of Europeans. People anoint yourself his body with oil, various spices. Re-read at least "Thousand and One Nights" ...
- And how the famous Roman baths? Or baths that existed since ancient times, and in the East?
- Bani meant there was not money for the body. It was the massage places: and direct physical massage and using the temperature difference. Remember that Suetonius wrote about the Emperor Augustus, "his poor health, he kept careful nursing. He rarely bathed. Instead, it is usually pounded oil, or sweating before the open fire. " In Rome, as in the whole world, only to anoint the body oils. When it wanted to make a film of oil from the skin, for that there were special spatula from a thin ivory. They can still be seen in some museums.
I want to draw your attention to another phenomenon. He recorded almost in all religious teachings. In the Bible, the prophets appear in Byzantium and in Russia were fools, in the East - the dervishes, Brahmins ... All these people lived in the desert where there is no water, and slept in the heat and in the winter cold in the open air. And they lived, usually a long life. Distinguished not only by the incredible spiritual and physical strength. On the surface, they sometimes gave the impression of repulsive, but in the lives of some mention of the subtle aroma that came from them ...
Since ancient times, bathing, moreover, was extremely magical ritual act. The Hindus, the Chinese, Japanese, the Jews and the early Christians it was a symbolic act marking the idea of cleansing the soul from sin. Same thing in Orthodoxy - immersion in the baptismal font, or swimming in the winter, the feast of the Epiphany, in the "Jordan" - the hole in the shape of a cross. At the dedication of many dived into it - for the healing of the soul. But no one would have thought lather while ...
Ancient washed with water, we need to do a sponge, washcloth and chemicals. Along with a whole bunch of sad consequences of which I spoke.
- Do you offer humanity cease to to wash with soap?
- Yes. I am currently working with three groups of volunteers who agreed to our request to not wash at all. We have tried to select mainly those who had serious health problems.
Now, when we talk to you, test subjects did not wash for more than nine months. In all that time no one - and there are more than 50 people - no one got sick colds, although the period of our experiment occurred two flu epidemic.
Twelve people were serious problems in the cardiovascular field. These symptoms have completely stopped. Three ulcers healed. One of the participants diagnosed with cataracts, now reads without glasses - an incredible event! But the most amazing results - in the field of mental health. However, for them - for the end of the experiment, calculated until April 1 of the next year ...
Yury Lozovsky. Professor.