Kim Kelly, a researcher at the University of Arizona, asked herself a question that sounds like pure tenderness: could your dog’s licks be taking care of you from the inside?
Together with a team from the same university and the University of California San Diego, she designed a study in which adults over 50 would live for three months with a dog adopted from a shelter. Every month, they would examine their gut bacteria, diet, physical activity, and immune system — as well as those of their new four-legged companions.
The idea behind all this: that the microbes we share with them act as a probiotic, something similar to what yogurt does, but with a tail and barking. There are still no final published results, but the hypothesis already gives you a beautiful reason not to dodge your dog’s next wet kiss.