How often should you shower? 5 things to know from a doctor

Editor’s note: The podcast Chasing Life With Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the medical science behind some of life’s mysteries big and small. “If you look at the actual way in which many of those products are actually doing anything to prevent disease transmission making sure you don’t have bodily fluids on you … that might transmit disease, the rest of it is making you look and feel and smell good.” Dr. James Hamblin spoke to CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the Chasing Life podcast about hygiene and cleanliness. “It’s not so simple as saying, ‘Well, you have taken out this one microbe; we’re going to put this one microbe back in, or we’re going to replace it with this other one, and you will feel all better.’ It’s much more of a holistic ecosystem that is difficult to understand.” If you’re interested in nurturing a more natural skin microbiome by changing your showering habits, Hamblin — who does not want to tell people what kind of personal care regimen they should follow — has five things to keep in mind. “For some people it’s important to feel like they’ve woken up and begun the day and they just feel refreshed — and it’s sort of a ritual,” said Hamblin. “There was a real pause in people’s interest in the skin microbiome, in the industry, in the science,” he said.