Gwyneth Paltrow encourages her children to play in dirt to build up their immune systems.
The 'Iron Man' actress realises she cannot shelter daughter Apple, eight, and son Moses, six - her children with her husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin - from germs and actually thinks it is beneficial for kids to be exposed to muck.
In an interview with Britain's OK! magazine, she revealed: "When they get home from school, I ask them to wash their hands but I think it's good for them to be in dirt and germs because that's how you build an immune system - by getting sick.
"I mean, if someone has the flu, I don't put my kid in their face, but it's an inevitable fact of life."
After starring in 2011's 'Contagion' as a woman who contracts a deadly disease, Gwyneth realised she was borderline OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), describing herself as a constant "hand washer", but she has now seemingly had a change of heart.
Gwyneth, 39, also used to follow a macrobiotic diet but now eats a more varied menu which includes poultry, fish and alcohol.
She said: "I'm not vegetarian, I don't eat red meat, I haven't eaten red meat in a long time, but I eat fish and birds. I drink, I smoke once in a while - when in Rome, you know what I mean?
"I don't count calories, but that's because I exercise like a fiend. You can't have one without the other."
