| Hello, everyone. Happy Sunday. I've got a fun one today. I'm going to respond to headlines without reading the studies or stories they reference. Let's see how it goes. "Study links fermented vegetable consumption to low COVID-19 mortality." This doesn't surprise me. We've known for many months that the coronavirus has a gastrointestinal component to it—it shows up in feces and has been isolated in the gut. Some say that's an important mode of transmission. We've known for decades that the gut is an important member of the immune system, and that poor gut health leaves us open to all sorts of infections. There's also talk of bacterial pathogens "riding along" with COVID-19 and taking advantage of the host's weakened state. Anything you can do to improve gut and thus overall and immune health will improve your chances with the virus. "People felt subjectively younger in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis." There are a few reasons why this could be. But my guess is that people were feeling completely adrift. They didn't know who to believe, what was true, what wasn't. There was a ton of uncertainty. Many people were scared. And, for better or worse, sometimes that's exciting. It can be enervating to feel like the world is crumbling (or could crumble) beneath your feet. "Men are drinking breast milk to get ripped and fight cancer — but is it safe?" The answer to that question has got to be "no." Because of course the only food a human mother produces for small humans to drink is somehow going to be unsafe for adult humans to drink. There's probably stuff in there about bacteria and saturated fat. Something about it only being meant for small infants and not adult men. Of course, they'll discard that "evolutionary logic" for the next report on animal protein or saturated fat. Maybe they'll even recommend men drink formula as a safer alternative. I'm not saying people should go out and drink breast milk. But to pass it off as "unsafe"—as I'm admittedly just assuming the article is saying—is ridiculous. Now, you go ahead and follow up. Did I guess right? Let me know in the comment section of Weekly Link Love. | 