I disagree,
Bacteria is essential to life, if the gut was completely void of bacteria then we could not live.
The major bulk of our fecal matter is bacteria and without bacteria in the gut your health would deteriorate and you would die. Without the bacteria breaking down indigestible matter and excreting their life giving nutrients the gut would become infested with fungus and you would die of a combination of fungal overgrowth poisoning and Mal nutrition
It is also known that families that overuse chemical cleaners etc, to kill all these bad bacteria, and are very bacteria-phobic about everything, get sick more and their kids develop allergies...so if this is the effect that it has when its happening in the environment around you, its easy to imagine it has the exact same effect on the environment inside you. No surprise gut flora is known to help metabolizing, preventing allergies & IBD...and the levels of certain bacteria control whether one is prone to obesity or not.
There is defiantly some overzealous obsessing being done about the dangers of bacteria, what is really worrisome to me in particular are the anti baterial agents that they now lace all soaps with, that crap you get in public restrooms is always laced with it. It is poisonous to humans,not only that but agents like triclosan are hormone disrupting and will damage the endocrine system and diminish the male drive and cause hormonal havoc in both men and women.(It is literally in every single personal care product given to prisoners in their care packs, if you find your self in jail be warned) even low doses have been proven to be endocrine disrupting. It diminishes overall life force and vitality by interfering with thyroid function as well.
In August 2009, the Canadian Medical Association asked the Canadian government to ban triclosan use in household products under concerns of creating bacterial resistance and producing dangerous side products (chloroform).[20]
Reports have suggested that triclosan can combine with chlorine in tap water to form chloroform ,[21] which the United States Environmental Protection Agency classifies as a probable human carcinogen. As a result, triclosan was the target of a UK cancer alert, even though the study showed that the amount of chloroform generated was less than amounts often present in chlorinated drinking waters.
Triclosan also reacts with the free chlorine in tap water to produce lesser amounts of other compounds, like 2,4-dichlorophenol.[21] Most of these intermediates convert into dioxins upon exposure to UV radiation (from the sun or other sources). Although small amounts of dioxins are produced, there is a great deal of concern over this effect, because some dioxins are extremely toxic and are very potent endocrine disruptor's. They are also chemically very stable, so that they are eliminated from the body very slowly (they can bioaccumulate to dangerous levels), and they persist in the environment for a very long time.
Triclosan is chemically somewhat similar to the dioxin class of compounds. Its production leads to small amounts of residual polychlorinated dioxins, and polychlorinated furans, which are contained in small amounts, in the products that are using it.
A 2006 study concluded that low doses of triclosan act as an endocrine disruptor in the North American bullfrog.[22] The hypothesis proposed is that triclosan blocks the metabolism of thyroid hormone, because it chemically mimics thyroid hormone, and binds to the hormone receptor sites, blocking them, so that normal hormones cannot be used. Triclosan has also been found in both the bile of fish living downstream from waste water processing plants and in human milk.[23] The negative effects of triclosan on the environment and its questionable benefits in toothpastes[24] has led to the Swedish Naturskyddsföreningen to recommend not using triclosan in toothpaste.[25] Another 2009 study demonstrated that triclosan exposure significantly impacts thyroid hormone concentrations in the male juvenile rats.[26]
Triclosan is used in a variety of common household products, including soaps, mouthwashes, dish detergents, toothpastes, deodorants, and hand sanitizers.[27] In the United States, manufacturers of products containing triclosan must indicate it on the label.
The American Dental Association published a response to the concerns stemming from the Virginia Tech study [21] stating that the study is not relevant to toothpaste.[28]
The use of triclosan as an additive for plastic production for use in food packages had not been approved by the EC.[29]
