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2024-11-11

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Playing in mud and dirt can boost your child’s immune system – here’s how (theconversation.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

This article is debunking the idea that there are probiotic benefits to eating dirt, which isn't what we're talking about at all. We don't care about the beneficial bacteria, they don't build your immune system, they're irrelevant. It states right at the beginning that there are harmful pathogens in dirt, which is exactly the point. Those harmful pathogens are literally the only thing that can build the immune system.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Stop spreading misinformation. Pretty much everything you just said is wrong.

What you're doing harms people. You should stop.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

What?! Are you serious?

Pretty much everything I said was wrong? How do you figure that?

Here's my primary claim: "This article is debunking the idea that there are probiotic benefits to eating dirt, which isn't what we're talking about at all"

My claim was that the page you linked is clearly talking about digestive health, not the immune system.

Let's look at the first sentence in the header

Will eating dirt improve gut health?

I'd say that's pretty clear. But wait, that's not the whole header, what does the rest of it say?

According to the Hygiene Hypothesis, ingesting dirt will strengthen our immune system right?

So it's worse than I thought, immediately, right off the bat, this page is already jumbling the concepts of digestive health and immune system. Just odd.

Look, I'm perfectly willing to concede that there are no real digestive benefits to eating dirt. But then I never made that claim. I have no idea what your motivation is, but you should stop spreading misinformation.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 weeks ago

Here’s my primary claim: “This article is debunking the idea that there are probiotic benefits to eating dirt, which isn’t what we’re talking about at all”

Your claim starts with a misunderstanding. So you should start out by reading the citations more thoroughly.

My claim was that the page you linked is clearly talking about digestive health, not the immune system.

This is incorrect. And they are tightly interwoven.

So it’s worse than I thought, immediately, right off the bat, this page is already jumbling the concepts of digestive health and immune system. Just odd.

It's not odd, it's ignorance on your part, so read the citations more thoroughly so you get a better understanding.