Beards have always had a mixed reputation, especially when it comes to women's opinion. Some hate it, some swoon over it and find it really cool. But we have a piece of news which may tilt the verdict in the favour of a ‘chikna’ face.
While men with beards might be considered more attractive than their clean-shaven counterparts, a recent study claims that bearded men may carry much more germs than a dog’s fur. No, we are not kidding. According to a study conducted by the Hirslanden Clinic in Switzerland, dogs are actually cleaner than men with beards.
What was the study all about?
Ironically the study was conducted to find out whether MRI machines can be used for both dogs and men. The scientists actually wanted to discover whether dogs are of any risk to humans and if there were chances that men might pick up any dog-borne disease by sharing the same machine. To conduct the study, swab samples from the beards of 18 men and necks of 30 dogs were tested.
The result
Brace yourself for the shocking results of the study (which are pretty gross by the way). 23 out of 30 canines tested had high microbial count while all the 18 men had high counts of bacteria in their beard. Infact, 7 out these 18 men contained a significantly higher amount of microbes which could make them really sick and posed a threat to human health.
Additionally, the MRI scanner showed a higher level of the microbial count when humans used it when compared to the pooches. Apparently, men with beards need to learn a thing or two from the man’s best friend when it comes to maintaining the hygiene of their facial hair.
Study author Professor Andreas Gutzeit said, "The researchers found a significantly higher bacterial load in specimens taken from the men's beards compared with the dogs' fur."
He further added, "On the basis of these findings, dogs can be considered as clean, compared with bearded men.”
The bottom line
So, is it the time for men to pick up a razor and shave it all of? While that still remains your personal choice, our suggestion is to wash your facial hair (read beard) just as you wash the hair on your head. You can also use products specifically catering to beard for better comfort. So, the next time you are confused to ‘beard or not to beard’ for a date, the answer is pretty simple.