Bacteria is impossible to get away from but we shouldn't live in fear of it either. According to professor Dr. Jennifer Gardy most bacteria is harmless and being exposed to it can actually help us build immunity and stay healthier.The best defense against harmful bacteria is common sense and washing your hands with soap and water. It's bacteria's world, and we're just living in it. According to research, there are over one trillion species of microbes living on earth. But as contaminated and terrifying as that may make you feel, you really shouldn't sweat it. "Bacteria are everywhere," explained Dr. Jennifer Gardy, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia's School of Population and Public Health, a senior scientist at the BC Centre for Disease Control, and author of "It's Catching: The Infectious World of Germs and Microbes.""They're mostly harmless and often helpful. We shouldn't be afraid of bacteria because that leads to overzealous hygiene, which isn't good either. Truthfully, very few people actually get sick from touching thingsit's more human-to-human contact or ingesting something carrying a pathogen," she tells INSIDER. But, even though bacteria can't hurt us as much as we may have originally thought, Gardy still stresses the importance of washing hands. "Soap, water, and common sense are your best defense against the handful of bugs that you might encounter out there," she said. And if you can't wash your hands keep in mind that a little bacteria is actually helpful. "Being exposed to bacteria is a good thingbacteria keeps our immune system busy; if it's not busy, it can start to turn on us, attacking our own cells. This is why autoimmune diseases are so prevalent in countries where people are fastidiously clean," she explainedSo, as unnerving as the list below may make you feel, don't walk around using hand sanitizer on your hands all the time, that's probably worse than the bacteria itself. Your kitchen sponges should be changed often.When you think about it, kitchen sponges are pretty nasty. A study published last year revealed that because of the density of a kitchen sponge it can harbor much more bacteria than originally thought. But, even though you may have been washing your dishes with bacteria incubators the researchers stress the study was meant to raise awareness, not fear. So, just change your sponges every so often and you'll be fine. Most of the bacteria on the top of your cell phone is harmless.A scientist at the University of Arizona found that cell phones are ten times dirtier than toilet seats. No matter how clean you think you are, human skin carries tons of microbes naturally, plus things get transferred from your hands and mouth onto your phone as well. But again, there's no need to impulsively wipe your cell phone down with anti-bacterial wipes after every call or textthe majority of the bacteria is harmless.Plastic restaurant menus are nearly impossible to keep clean.As much as restaurants try and keep their menus clean, the amount of hands that touch menus daily makes it nearly impossible to keep them 100% bacteria free. Although one thing you can do is wash or sanitize your hands right after you give your order so anything foreign from the menu won't hang out on your hands. See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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