A new study aims to determine if dog ownership is good for your immune system.
A new study aims to determine if dog ownership is good for your immune system.
Dogs as probiotics? If you’ve been keeping up with the latest talk surrounding the human microbiome—the trillions of microscopic organisms that live in your body and help it perform key functions, such as digestion, fighting off disease-causing bacteria, and synthesizing nutrients—that suggestion might not sound as bizarre to you as it probably does to the uninitiated. Or maybe it still sounds a little eyebrow-raising?
Regardless, researchers at the University of Arizona are convinced that the storied relationship between dogs and humans has “gotten under the skin”—and they are setting out to investigate whether or not those slobbery kisses from your pooch are just as effective as a daily serving of probiotic-rich yogurt when it comes to introducing good bacteria into your system.
The hypothesis isn’t new. Jason Best at TakePart writes: “A 2013 study out of the University of Colorado found that people who owned dogs shared a significant amount of skin microbes—so much so that in households with dogs, parents appeared to share more microbes with the family pet than they did with their kids.”
On their website, the Arizona researchers leading the Dogs as Probiotics study write: “Through research, we’ve learned … that children who are raised with dogs are less likely than others to develop a range of immune-related disorders, including asthma and allergies, suggesting that maybe dogs are enhancing the ‘good’ bacteria in our bodies, and possibly improving our health.”
The University of Arizona team aims to test their hypothesis by evaluating a group of adults age 50 or older who have not taken antibiotics or lived with a dog for the past six months. Study participants will be paired with a dog rescued from a shelter—who they’ll have the option to adopt once the test is over. Participants will have their gut bacteria non-invasively analyzed at monthly intervals for a three-month period to determine what kind of impact cohabitation with a dog has (if any) on their microbiomes and overall health.
If you don’t live in Arizona or meet the study criteria, but still want to help with the Dogs as Probiotics study, the research team has launched an online crowdfunding campaign.
We’re still learning about the ways in which pet ownership can improve physical health, but it’s long been established that pets can boost our mental wellness, too. Considering the links currently being uncovered between gut health and the brain—how the microbiome may impact depression, anxiety, and other neurological conditions—maybe these two realms aren’t as segregated as we once thought they were. Whatever science uncovers in the future, it’ll no doubt be another bullet on an already long list of reasons why dogs truly are man’s best friend.
