Once upon a time, everybody smelled like everybody smells, which is to say, probably not quite as pleasant as people smell now -- arguably. Then somebody came along and invented deodorant, began marketing it to women to give them a competitive dating advantage -- "Smell better than the next woman and get more men" -- which they (historically obviously) fell for, and now deodorant is considered necessary... but for what purpose?

People are very adaptive to smell, and beyond the same statistical outliers we have now, generally speaking, people would have smelled about the same. Now though, the bar has been arbitrarily raised, and the result is that everybody not wearing deodorant is a grotesquely smelling freak, where the only outcome is that, once again, we all smell the same, but slightly different -- and of course, we're now all spending an extra $10 a month on a product that nobody really needs, but that was marketed well enough initially that it's become a staple.

Let's just put it this way; I find it noteworthy that deodorant was developed around the same time that humans started to be packed tightly into office buildings while wrapped up in wool suits.

I personally had HUGE successes with it in improving my overall hygiene - but be warned that it takes upto six months for your body to "reboot". during that time, your hygiene grows worse - before getting extremely better. I suspect it is the same case with the brushing thing : it will take quite some time before the flora and fauna of your mouth reboots.

[1] http://freetheanimal.com/2010/12/a-most-successful-self-expe... [2] http://paleohacks.com/questions/17060/no-poo-and-dandruff.ht...

Is there any evidence that this statement has any basis in reality or is it like when people do a 'cleanse' to get rid of the 'toxins' in the body?

Overall, the use of essential oils for cleaning is ideal. My ex-wife had horrible acne, and tried the harsh 'cures' like Proactiv. The fix was a simple blend of lavender and tea tree essential oils mixed with distilled water in a spray. Using that once or twice a day cleared her up within a week.

Disclosure: I own a small soap company and only use my own bars! :) [1]

[1] http://oldkinderhook.co

When I grow out facial hair, there's a particular spot on my upper lip that starts to flake, which I also think of as "dandruff". Kept shaven, it's asymptomatic.

Basically, there seem to be many mysterious causes and effects involved.

We moved to various places -- Philadelphia, Shanghai, Costa Rica, Brazil. I can only really speak for Shanghai, which is incredibly hot with about 100% humidity in the summer (I have seen water pool on the floor of my building, just because there was so much in the air) and 1-4 degrees centigrade in the winter. I've never thought of it as misty.

Don't move to Shanghai for the weather.

1. Being able to afford a deodorant indicates wealth, and thus better chances of survival of the offspring.

2. Using a deodorant might also indicate an awareness of personal hygiene in the individual (atleast purportedly). This might again increase the survival chances of the offspring.

I can anecdotally attest to my own strategy. I buy rubbing alcohol. Have a shower, clean the problem areas. Shortly after I get out I apply the alcohol to my arm pits, and if I think I'm going to really be sweating I spray some over my upper back, chest etc. Nothing close to the amount one would use if they were spraying deodorant. The result is that I can go several days without any bad odor, even when I sweat so much that my shirts are saturated, they don't even smell, to me or anyone else.

The side effect of doing this is that I am far more sensitive to perfumes and deodorants people use, and they just aren't at all pleasant in the quantities people feel they need to use to smell "nice".

It's now been almost 3 years since I stopped using soap or shampoo, and I no longer have any skin problems or odor problems, although I'll smell up pretty quick if I forget the crystal deodorant. The only weird part was the two month transitionary phase where my body was still producing excess oils to compensate for daily washing with soap, giving a constant, icky "you've been wearing those jeans for a whole week" feel.

Another protip: If you find your feet stink after a full day at work, try switching to wool socks.

[1] http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=beat-bad-br...

[1] http://www.perio.org/consumer/cdc-study.htm

Of course, normally I would give at least a passing thought to using more modernized spellings in this context, but I have spent most of the week writing up a series of observation sessions and my brain is beginning to revolt, liquefy, and dribble out of my ears.

Ctrl+A Ctrl+C Ctrl+L data:text/html, <html contenteditable> <ENTER> Ctrl+V

phew

It isn't something that makes the site unusable by any means, but it is something that gives an annoyance without a benefit to me.

Who still does that ?

/me summon printfriendly.com

In particular, he drew a lot of relationships between diet and not only dental but general health. Some of which sounds a bit kooky but a lot of which seems to be getting confirmed, especially regards the role of sugar and processed carbohydrates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weston_Price

My reason for posting was more to show that lines of inquiry similar / related to those of the source article have been pursued for a long time.

So: yes, actually, it is relevant.

Incidentally: if you're familiar with any specific criticisms of Prices work, posting those might be of interest. To myself as well as others.

Seems very interesting, but very early stage.

Causes are: -genetic -epigenetic -life style -nutrition (cabrs!) -viruses (no kidding, obesity may be infectious) etc.