Stick with soap

Men's Fitness, March, 2003

FOR YEARS, SCIENTISTS have been telling us that overusing antibacterial cleansers could lead to the creation of soap-resistant "superbugs." But here's the best reason to give up those high-powered hand cleaners: They don't work any better than regular soap.

RESEARCHERS at the Columbia University School of Nursing in New York City gave plain or antimicrobial soap to more than 200 people, no differences were found in the amount of germs on the subjects' hands post-scrubbing. According to the investigators, what's really important is washing all the surfaces of your hands and applying friction so that the soap can bind to germs and help rinse them away.