There’s lots to admire in a thick beard. Weeks and months of work and upkeep are poured into it, but sadly, the more you think about them the more you start to question their existence. Beards are located in a complicated area. The bottom part of the face has to deal with lots of sweat and food on a daily basis, making it a prime nook for germs and gross things.
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A study from Switzerland concludes that dogs carry fewer germs than bearded men. These results were obtained by scientists who sampled bacteria from 18 men’s beards and compared them to the germs located in the neck of over 30 different dogs. According to vets, this area is “particularly unhygienic” for dogs, being the spot where most skin infections occur.
The study found that all of the men who were sampled had high amounts of germs, while only 23 of the dogs in the research reached this high level of bacteria. Seven of these men also had health-damaging germs, including bugs that cause urinary tract infections.
“Bearded men harbor a significantly higher burden of microbes and more human-pathogenic strains than dogs.”
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Beards are made up of large amounts of coarse hair, making it a good spot to hold onto dirt, much more capable than other parts of the body.
Will we ever look at hipsters in the same way again?