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  • Face it, your house is filthy.

  • It's filled with dead skin cells, dust, and around 200,000 different species of bug, bacteria, and fungus.

  • Now, it's tempting to assume that most of them live in your toilet.

  • After all, it's where... you know.

  • But here's the thing, the dirtiest place in your house isn't your toilet.

  • It's actually you.

  • Household microbes lurk in the most unlikely of places.

  • Take a heat-loving bacteria called Thermus aquaticus.

  • These guys can only be found in two environments: blisteringly hot geysers like Old Faithful at Yellowstone and your hot water heater.

  • Another example is Penicillium fungi.

  • They creep into your air conditioner from outdoors.

  • When you switch on the AC, their spores get blasted around the house.

  • They're known to cause allergies in 2 to 6 percent of people.

  • So, when you notice a funny musty smell coming from your AC, it's probably the fungus.

  • But before you start eyeing your central air suspiciously, think about this: You dump microbes all over your body every time you shower.

  • It turns out, trillions of organisms live in your shower head, piled on top of each other in a slimy layer half a millimeter thick.

  • But that's not necessarily a problem.

  • Researchers found that a type of shower-dwelling mycobacterium actually boosts levels of serotonin.

  • That's a neurotransmitter thought to lower stress and increase happiness.

  • And when those arrant microbacteria land on you, they join the tens of thousands of other microbe species that live in the dirtiest place aroundyour body.

  • Like Corynebacterium, the microbes that give your armpits that stinky odor and simultaneously fight off harmful pathogens like E. coli.

  • Meanwhile, 300 to 500 species of microbe colonize your gut and are thought to play a role in maintaining your immune system, digestive system, and even mental health.

  • In the non-bacteria category of microbes, you've got such guests as microscopic mites that live on your face and mold that colonizes your toes.

  • While the idea of them might give you chills, microbes like these help keep you safe.

  • You see, the number of harmless microbial species in the world outnumber harmful ones by a trillion to one.

  • In fact, less than 0.00000001 percent of microbial species account for nearly all infectious diseases in the world.

  • And all these harmless bacteria crawling on your skin means less room and resources for pathogens like antibiotic resistant microbes.

  • Which also means they have less opportunity to take over and make you sick.

  • So, even when antibiotics fail, it could be all those other microbes crawling in and on you that keep you safe.

  • So, in a way, you need to get a little dirty to stay healthy.

  • But full disclosure: That's not an excuse to swear off your shower.

  • Besides, you don't wanna miss out on that feel-good mycobacterium.

  • This video was made, in large part, thanks to Rob Dunn and the information in his new book "Never Home Alone".

Face it, your house is filthy.

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