Scientists Confirm That Kissing Your Dog Is Good For Health
It might sound repulsive, as well as being a custom that will leave you without a partner, but it seems that a group of scientists have confirmed that kissing your dog is healthy. This seems to be in contrast to everything we knew about welfare, hygiene, and responsible animal ownership. So let’s analyze this statement more in depth.
For dogs, licking corresponds to our caresses, so they use their tongues to express affection. They show this behavior towards people closest to them, or towards those who have earned their trust. Among other things, it is also a way of confirming the role of submission in the hierarchy of the house.
However, this habit of our little friends can be very unpleasant for us, especially since we have been used to thinking that the dog’s saliva is very dirty. What many of us don’t know is that a recent study developed at the University of Arizona aims to prove otherwise.
According to Kim Kelly, director of the project, dogs have evolved with us over the centuries, so that over time we feel comfortable in our relationship with them. According to preliminary research, dog owners are usually happier than other people, and stay healthy for longer, although the relationship between these elements is unclear. According to Kelly’s hypothesis, the microbes present in the stomach of dogs have a beneficial effect on our organism and facilitate the growth of some elements of our bacterial flora, which are extraordinarily beneficial for us.
The variations in our microbiota (group of microscopic organisms that live in our body) are crucial for our health and for the way in which our body defends itself from external agents.
Are all microorganisms good?
A question you are surely asking yourself is: if the changes in the microbiota are positive, do we have to expose ourselves to the risk that any microorganism can come into contact with our organism? The answer, of course, is No. In fact, great medical success is achieved when you can eliminate or reverse the effects of the bacteria responsible for a large number of diseases, but bacteria are not all bad.
What happens in our body when one or more bacteria are present is that the microbiota composition of the body changes. This causes the immune system to be upset and end up affecting not only the invading bacteria, but also the body itself. This is the reason for the persistence of autoimmune diseases, such as asthma.
The ease with which many microorganisms invade our body is alarming and is partly due to the massive use of antibiotics, which, in addition to the invader, also cancel the microbes that live in our body and which function as a natural barrier to bacteria and viruses.
In addition to the excessive use of drugs, a poor diet, too careful, or very strict, does not allow the consumer to develop sufficient defenses for external agents. In the same way, the scarce attendance of natural environments and the excess of hygiene are a very important factor in the weakening process of the human organism.
However, contact with dogs, and especially with their saliva, causes the intestinal flora of the owners to strengthen, due to prolonged exposure to foreign bacteria that are not harmful to our body.
Studies carried out by recognized institutions agree that the intestinal flora of dog owners is different, richer and more varied than that of other people. Therefore, dogs’ saliva is thought to work as a probiotic agent, which improves the health of the bacteria that live in the gut, in turn improving our resistance to other types of bacteria that are harmful to our health.
