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Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

bbc.com

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Re: Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

#81

Post by v8xi »

Maursault wrote: post #74
nextaccountic wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting. But soap also helps in surrounding fats with a water-soluble membrane, right?

I'm not sure why fats would be difficult to wash off, and soaps are made from fats through saponification.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponification

the process of saponification adds a hydrophilic/water-soluble end to a hydrophobic molecule (fat - which is essentially a long hydrocarbon chain). The fatty end embeds itself in fats/oils which then form what are called micelles with the fatty tail and dissolved greasy molecules on the inside and the water-soluble bit on the outside. Thus it essentially packages up all the grime in little balls that act as if they are dissolved in water and can thus be washed down the drain.

Re: Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

#82

Post by tsol »

z3t4 wrote: post #49

A friend of mine stopped using soap and after a few months people started complimenting on how good his hair looked. So I tried the same and after a few weeks I got cold after cold, so I got back to using soap.

His hair didn't become incredibly greasy and knotted over time? I feel like my hair would be the biggest problem. Skin usually adapts pretty quickly

Re: Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

#83

Post by kstenerud »

pixxel wrote: post #80
kstenerud wrote: post #55

I stopped using soap a decade ago. The only time I use it now is for rare occasions where I get something on me that requires soap, such as motor oil or chemicals. I also only wash twice a week or so. People always recoil when I tell them, but then I ask them what I smell like to them. They say I don't really smell like anything. The first month was the worst, because my skin took time to adjust to not having its oil…

May I ask why you stopped using soap? I can imagine not using soap on arms, legs and torso, but not for intimate areas! I’m intrigued for sure :)

I read an article about it and decided to try it (just look for "water only" washing - there are tons of articles and people talking about it on Reddit).

I too was worried about armpits and intimate areas at first, but my wife has no complaints (quite the opposite; she loves the way I smell. So does my cat for some reason).

For the first few years I used one of those crystal salt deodorants because I used to smell REALLY bad. But somewhere through the years that went away and I don't use it anymore. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say it has something to do with me changing my diet to remove highly processed foods, but we're also talking about a sample size of one so who knows... I do notice that my body smell changes slightly depending on what I eat, though.

Re: Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

#84

Post by tsol »

somenameforme wrote: post #54
wiradikusuma wrote: post #9

"..skin covered in soot and pus..", "..diet.. ..rotten meat and unsanitary water..", "..fond of smoking..". "..dies at 94". I don't even know what to say. Those two snippets can't be in the same sentence right? I'll think twice before telling my kids to "eat healthy and don't smoke"!

One of the most interesting things in all of history to me is the longevity in Ancient Greece. Look up nearly any Ancient Greek one is aware of and you'll find life lengths not especially different than modern times. A study of 'Ancient Greeks of Note' [1] found an average life expectance of a bit more than 71 years. The obvious explanation for this is a survivorship bias, but the vast majority of these Greeks made t…

That's mostly hygiene. Bad hygiene is why cities are often associated with disease-- cities are often full of unhygienic practices that allow bacteria and virii to fester. They still didn't understand seizures, or cancer-- ie they were good at one dimension among many that exist in illnesses.

Re: Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

#85

Post by jackling »

yamrzou wrote: post #75
barbazoo wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never thought about showering 3 times a day. Is that common anywhere?

Muslims do a purification ritual called "Wudu" that requires washing face, hands, arms, and feet 5 times a day, once before each prayer.

Important to note, this is purely with water and not much water is used.

Re: Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

#86

Post by BrandoElFollito »

barbazoo wrote: post #46
marcodiego wrote: post #38

> Amou Haji finally succumbed to pressure and washed a few months ago. > According to Iran's IRNA news agency, he became ill shortly afterwards and died on Sunday. I don't think evolution prepared us to 3 showers a day. I also don't think it prepared us to instantly available unhealthy all-food-you-can-eat. We have to consider how much of our sedentary behavior is unnatural and how much of it is really improving our…

I've never thought about showering 3 times a day. Is that common anywhere?

I shower twice a day when I bike to the office, and three times if I have sport mid day.

Re: Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

#87

Post by mort96 »

kstenerud wrote: post #55

I stopped using soap a decade ago. The only time I use it now is for rare occasions where I get something on me that requires soap, such as motor oil or chemicals. I also only wash twice a week or so. People always recoil when I tell them, but then I ask them what I smell like to them. They say I don't really smell like anything. The first month was the worst, because my skin took time to adjust to not having its oil…

> The only real issue is hair; it becomes REALLY unmanageable without shampoo. So if you have long hair, just keep using shampoo.

Huh, this is the complete opposite of my experience. I've had long hair from time to time, and the only time it has been unmanageable has been after washing it with shampoo.

Re: Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

#88

Post by ASalazarMX »

kstenerud wrote: post #83
pixxel wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask why you stopped using soap? I can imagine not using soap on arms, legs and torso, but not for intimate areas! I’m intrigued for sure :)

I read an article about it and decided to try it (just look for "water only" washing - there are tons of articles and people talking about it on Reddit). I too was worried about armpits and intimate areas at first, but my wife has no complaints (quite the opposite; she loves the way I smell. So does my cat for some reason). For the first few years I used one of those crystal salt deodorants because I used to smell RE…

How is the weather where you live? I can't imagine this working in a hot, humid tropical country.

I know there's variability in human body odor, like most Asians not needing deodorant, but I'm skeptical because some people do have a strong body odor they can't smell. I've known a few.

Re: Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

#89

Post by pixxel »

kstenerud wrote: post #83
pixxel wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask why you stopped using soap? I can imagine not using soap on arms, legs and torso, but not for intimate areas! I’m intrigued for sure :)

I read an article about it and decided to try it (just look for "water only" washing - there are tons of articles and people talking about it on Reddit). I too was worried about armpits and intimate areas at first, but my wife has no complaints (quite the opposite; she loves the way I smell. So does my cat for some reason). For the first few years I used one of those crystal salt deodorants because I used to smell RE…

I will look it up for sure. Many thanks for sharing.

Re: Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94

#90

Post by kstenerud »

ASalazarMX wrote: post #88
kstenerud wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read an article about it and decided to try it (just look for "water only" washing - there are tons of articles and people talking about it on Reddit). I too was worried about armpits and intimate areas at first, but my wife has no complaints (quite the opposite; she loves the way I smell. So does my cat for some reason). For the first few years I used one of those crystal salt deodorants because I used to smell RE…

How is the weather where you live? I can't imagine this working in a hot, humid tropical country. I know there's variability in human body odor, like most Asians not needing deodorant, but I'm skeptical because some people do have a strong body odor they can't smell. I've known a few.

I've lived all over the place, from dry to wet-towel-in-your-face humid, from -25c to 45c. Even after an hour long workout dripping with sweat I don't really smell like anything.

The way to test your own body odor without asking other people is to take a deep whiff of yesterday's shirt when you wake up in the morning. Even better would be to walk around outside a bit before you smell your old shirt in order to keep a somewhat consistent calibration. But really, it's best to just ask someone you can trust to be truthful (most people will be truthful if you preface something by "I'm running an experiment").

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