Did I mention you shouldn't always make your bed?
One Minute For Your Health #27
Bacteria have a bad name, but without them we would die. Mould on the other hand….
… I wanted to say mould just has a bad name full stop. Then I remembered blue cheese and penicillin.
Mould, like bacteria, can make our lives much better. But mould can also make us a whole lot sicker.
In fact, mould exposure is linked to a whole host of symptoms:
allergic respiratory diseases (asthma)
chronic sinus and lung infections
chronic fatigue
migraines
digestive complains
histamine intolerance and MCAS
I hear you thinking “What does this have to do with making my bed?”
Research suggests that leaving your bed unmade once in a while reduces the likelihood of moulds (and other gross things*) growing in your pillows, blanket and mattress.
*Other gross things include dust mites.
Did you know you probably have about 1.5 million of them living in your bed?
Not making your bed may seem unappealing to you. It’s also unappealing to them because the bed becomes too dry for them to survive.
In fact, Japanese often leave their futons and blankets hanging out in the sun to dry in order to prevent mould and other things growing in them. Our mattresses are far too bulky to be hung outside, but we can at least leave them uncovered from time to time.
This week leave your bed ‘unmade’ a few times - make sure to leave your mattress, pillows and blanket free to ‘dry’ and air out. Ideally let the sun shine on usually unexposed bits of your bedding. UV is a pretty good mould and dust mite killer. Take photos of your wonderfully messy beds and tag me at #1M4YH so I can see what you’re doing.
I wonder if we’ll all feel less productive this week? Comment on the post and let me know!
Do you think you might be experiencing symptoms related to mould? Feel free to arrange a free 15-minute call with me to explore if nutritional therapy could help you address your symptoms.
Links and References:
Chapman, M.D., 2006. Challenges associated with indoor moulds: health effects, immune response and exposure assessment. Medical Mycology, 44(Supplement_1), pp.S29-S32.
Begum, M., Aya, A., Cheong, C., Neumeister-Kemp, H., White, K. and Kemp, P., 2012. Prevalence of fungi in used pillows. In Proceedings of Healthy Buildings (Vol. 2012).
Woodcock, A.A., Steel, N., Moore, C.B., Howard, S.J., Custovic, A. and Denning, D.W., 2006. Fungal contamination of bedding. Allergy, 61(1), pp.140-142.
Crowther, D., Wilkinson, T., Biddulph, P., Oreszczyn, T., Pretlove, S. and Ridley, I., 2006. A simple model for predicting the effect of hygrothermal conditions on populations of house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Acari: Pyroglyphidae). Experimental & applied acarology, 39(2), pp.127-148.
J-Life International. (2019). A Complete Guide to The Japanese Sleep System. [online] Available at: https://jlifeinternational.com/blogs/news/a-complete-guide-to-the-japanese-sleep-system [Accessed 24 Feb. 2021].
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