Gwyneth Paltrow: Germs are good for my kids

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."