Stop buying soaps and other home products that contain triclosan and other antimicrobial agents—including toothpaste, cosmetics, carpets, plastic kitchenware, sponges, and even toys. Urge your family, friends, and workplace not to buy them either.

Wash your hands by rubbing thoroughly with ordinary soap and warm water before preparing food and after using the toilet, as this is still the best way to prevent colds and food-borne disease.

For most of human history, soap got rid of germs by making surface dirt and oils slippery enough to be rubbed and rinsed off. Since World War II, however, human-made chemicals have altered the traditional recipe. Manufacturers increasingly fortify liquid soaps, shower gels, and body washes with a wide range of fragrances and other inputs—including germ-fighting “antibacterial” properties—and tout the benefits of doing so.

But the truth is, that antibacterial soaps are not significantly more effective at combating germs than regular soaps. Even worse, their popularity is contributing to the growing problem of drug-resistance—creating greater opportunities for the emergence of deadly “super-bugs” that are immune to germ-fighting agents. As a consequence, many antibiotics and other compounds used to fight life-threatening infections like malaria and tuberculosis are no longer as effective as they once were. When it comes to germ prevention, there’s really no substitute for plain old soap and water.

My Choices.

Good old Ivory Soap one of my favourites or better yet just good old Lye Soap with honey. Can’t be beat in my eyes and so good for you.

The folks that raised me told me this over fifty years ago and they are just finding it out now?  Kind of think they should be asking our elders on how we dealt with things, wouldn’t you think?  It would save millions of dollars a year.   Also save thousands of lives.  Wonder how many thousands of dollars it cost to find this out.  If they would have asked me I wouldn’t have charged them a cent.

to a study conducted by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

“Although sleep’s relationship with the immune system is well-documented, this is the first evidence that even relatively minor sleep disturbances can influence the body’s reaction to cold viruses,” researcher Sheldon Cohen said. “It provides yet another reason why people should make time in their schedules to get a complete night of rest.”   Also don’t forget even a half hour rest at noon helps a lot too.