As you can see, Benjamin Franklin used to take air baths.
My question: is there any (and note I said any) benefits to them?
This article is a little skeptical. But they don’t have the final word. And, hey, nudists chime in. I at least would love to hear what you have to say on the matter.
Yeah, at various points in my lifetime I’ve tried them (ironically not even aware of Franklin). And they are exhilarating. And I could also swear that they do make you feel refreshed and better.
I can find references that Franklin used to walk around in a cold room without any clothes on, and I personally know people who go swimming in pretty cold water every morning because they like to swim, but to get the full benefits as far as your circulation, you are supposed to sit in a hot sauna first before plunging into a cold pool (or rolling around in the snow, or whatever)
As for nudism, sure everybody’s naked, but you can, maybe even should, sit on a towel; at least that seems more hygienic. I’m sure the sauna/hammam place has posted guidelines.
There are people who will tell you walking around nude is “healthful”, skin cancer aside. But other than boosting your vitamin D production I have trouble understanding the benefits. Does the fact that some people genuinely enjoy walking around nude count as a benefit?
In humid weather, and lacking the ability to actually clean yourself, I could definitely see the benefit of airing/drying yourself out. Swamp ass is real.
UV kills germs so, if you take off your clothes and set them out in the sun, that’s probably a reasonable way to get them a bit more clean of foreign germs. Likewise with your skin, if you go outside to be nude. If you just sit inside and you stack your clothes in the corner with all the dog fur, spiders, and poop molecules that have been brought in from outside - however - then the nudity part would probably not have been beneficial.
If you live in modern day and have stacks of clean clothes available, though, there’s probably no benefit to getting naked vs just changing into something clean.
Opening the windows is generally a good thing, then and now, to be clear. I was only discussing the nudity part.
I was pretty sure I knew what an air bath, Benjamin Franklin style, was – being naked in the open air. I think a nice breeze was considered a definite bonus. However, to be sure I looked it up.
Today, though, it seems “air bath” has a different meaning.
From the Kohler website:
What is an air bath?
As the name suggests, an air bath uses jets of air to deliver a full-body massage experience . Warm air is pushed through a staggered airjet design, creating thousands of tiny, invigorating bubbles that surround your body to give you a sensation of weightlessness.
UV kills germs by damaging their DNA (and other biological molecules). A dose of UV that will have significant sterilizing effect can damage your DNA too. UV is used to sterilize surfaces, but not usually skin.
That was my thinking as well- it would be useful to dry yourself out well every so often- kind of like not keeping your shoes on all the time is good for avoiding athlete’s foot.
I would think you’d have to do it fairly frequently to get any real benefit- keeping yourself moist and funky for 47 out of 48 hours every couple of days would be materially the same as 100% of the time.
