Experts are now estimating that 129 billion face masks, and 65 billion gloved, are being disposed of globally each month. Surgical masks weigh approximately 3.6g, equating to 451,500 tons of masks thrown away each month.

Conservationists and non-governmental organisations are increasingly concerned that a lot of the plastic waste, especially pandemic-related waste, is ending up in landfills, waterways and oceans, adding to the millions of tonnes of plastic waste already dumped into the world’s oceans every year

Three million masks every minute: How Covid-19 is choking the planet

It’s not uncommon for masks to end up in the ocean where animals get tangled up in the elastic ear loops of the mask. Animals can choke on masks and gloves that end up along shorelines.

Related: Natural Coronavirus Prevention

Disposable surgical masks are made of polypropylene, a type of plastic. This type of plastic is unsuitable for recycling and does not break down easily.

If you have to wear a face-covering when going out, consider a reusable one. If you find yourself with a surgical mask that you have to dispose of, be sure to cut the ends of the ear loops off the mask so marine life doesn’t get tangled up in them.

Who knew experiecing yearly colds could be a good thing?

A new study published in the microbiology journal mBio found that memory B cells immune cells that fight common colds also react to the coronavirus. These memory B cells are responsible for secondary immune responses and can survive in the body for decades. This could give people whose memory B cells are frequently exposed to seasonal colds an advantage in dealing with coronavirus.

Related: COVID Second Wave Is Happening All Over Europe, Except in Sweden

When we looked at blood samples from people who were recovering from COVID-19, it looked like many of them had a pre-existing pool of memory B cells that could recognize SARS-CoV-2 and rapidly produce antibodies that could attack it…”

Dr. Mark Sangster, lead author and research professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center

The study had a small sample size, comparing the blood samples of 26 people recovering from mild to moderate COVID-19 to 21 blood samples from healthy donors collected six to ten years ago. One of the components of a key protein in coronaviruses, the Spike protein, remains the same across all coronaviruses, including those that cause the common cold.

Related: Coronavirus Supplement Review

The United States’ response to the coronavirus has mentioned little about the immune system or immune response, choosing instead to focus on external strategies like masks. The CDC page on how to protect yourself and others mentions absolutely nothing about diet or lifestyle changes that could benefit your immune response. In the eyes of the United States government, the only keeping you from contracting coronavirus is your mask – which is patently false and an incredibly limited way of looking at health. You can boost your immune system and improve your body’s natural response to COVID-19 and other viruses. Check out this article.

New research published inJAMA Network Open examined the RAND American Life survey from May and June of 2020 and found that the frequency of alcohol consumption increased from an average of 5.48 drinking days a month to 6.22 days.

We’ve had anecdotal information about people buying and consuming more alcohol, but this is some of the first survey-based information that shows how much alcohol consumption has increased during the pandemic…”

Michael Pollard, lead author of the study and a sociologist at RAND

Related: COVID Second Wave Is Happening All Over Europe, Except in Sweden

Alcohol sales increased dramatically at the beginning of COVID shutdowns in the United States. By the end of April 2020, Nielsen reported that online alcohol sales had increased by 477% from 2019. It’s easy to joke about COVID driving people to drink, but there are real health consequences of increasing alcohol consumption. Women who reported an increase in alcohol consumption also reported a 39% increase in risky behavior and damaged relationships while drunk. The study notes,

These data provide evidence of changes in alcohol use and associated consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to a range of negative physical health associations, excessive alcohol use may lead to or worsen existing mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression, which may themselves be increasing during COVID-19.”

Changes in Adult Alcohol Use and Consequences During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US

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The pandemic has been stressful for Americans, especially those who are working class, and a new study finds that stress reflected in our mental health. Available on JAMA Network Open, the study finds that rates of depression have tripled in the United States, rising from 8.5% before the pandemic to 27.8%. The data was collected from a survey with 1,441 participants conducted in April of 2020.

Spikes in depression are common during and after large scale trauma events. Researchers also evaluated the impact of stressors on the survey takers’ mental health. Lower-income individuals with less than $5,000 in savings who were exposed to a greater amount of stressors were most at risk for depression. This group was the most vulnerable before the pandemic and experienced a 50% increase in depression risk.

Related: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

While further data will be needed to assess the trajectory of depression in the US population and potential treatment for affected populations, it seems important to recognize the potential for the mental health consequences of COVID-19 to be large in scale, to recognize that these effects can be long-lasting, and to consider preventative action to help mitigate its effects.²⁸ In particular, this burden is being borne by economically and socially marginalized groups, suggesting that individuals with low income and with fewer resources may benefit from particular policy attention in coming months

Prevalence of Depression Symptoms in US Adults Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

An increased number of google searches for gastrointestinal issues corresponded with an increase in COVID-19 cases, according to a new study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Researchers were inspired to look into this phenomena by the tendency of patients with COVID-19 to report symptoms like abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Our data underscore the importance of GI symptoms as a potential harbinger of Covid-19 infection and suggests that Google Trends may be a valuable tool for prediction of pandemics with GI manifestations…”

Kyle Staller, director of Mass General’s gastrointestinal motility laboratory

Related: Natural Coronavirus Prevention

Researchers used Alphabet Inc.’s Google Trends online tool to compare searches for diarrhea and loss of taste and appetite with reported COVID-19 cases. They found a positive correlation. Areas that experienced a high volume of gastrointestinal symptom searches, like New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts and Illinois, became states with high-disease burdens three to four weeks after the searches.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

This study comes on the heels of another study that COVID-19 patients often have prolonged viral intestinal infections. Patients with gut infections continued to have positive stool tests, even after respiratory tests came back negative.

Many COVID-19 patients are testing positive for COVID-19 through stool samples even after testing negative for viral respiratory infections. Scientists have found that patients have prolonged viral gut infections, even without gastrointestinal symptoms.

SARS-Cov-2 primarily spreads through respiratory droplets but finding viral infections in the stool of patients shows that Sars-CoV-2 does more than just infect the respiratory system. Evidence suggests that COVID-19 also affects the intestinal tract.

Related: Coronavirus Supplement Review

“We used to think of SARS-CoV-2 as just a pulmonary or respiratory disease,” said Siew Chien Ng, assistant dean of medicine and associate director of the university’s Centre for Gut Microbiota Research, in an interview Tuesday. “But over the last couple months, a lot of evidence has emerged that SARS-CoV-2 also affects the intestinal tract.”

Covid-19 May Cause Prolonged Gut Infection, Scientists Say

Within a study that tested 73 patients, more than half tested positive for coronavirus through stool samples. Data collected showed that patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in the gut had an abundance of opportunistic microbes and a loss of beneficial protective microbes. This was amplified in cases where antibiotics were used for treatment.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut 

Scientists are just now beginning to understand the important role gut health plays in overall health. We have known this for quite some time. If you’re at all worried about COVID-19 or any other disease, the best thing you can do is focus on gut health.

Through researching the relationship between diet and COVID-19 death rates, researchers have found a positive correlation between the consumption of fermented food and COVID-19 mortality rates.

Although aspects such as age structure, the timing of interventions, employment type, and housing conditions are likely to be the most relevant factors, other potentially relevant factors such as nutrition should not be overlooked, say Bousquet and colleagues.  

Study links fermented vegetable consumption to low COVID-19 mortality

Related: Coronavirus Supplement Review

The study, which was conducted by Jean Bousquet, looked at COVID-19 mortality rates based on data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. For information on fermented food consumption, researchers looked at the Comprehensive European Food consumption Database to assess the consumption of different fermented foods from each European country.

The study found that “For each gram per day increase in the average national consumption of fermented vegetables, the risk for COVID-19 mortality fell by 35.4%.” Of all the fermented foods, only fermented vegetables made a significant impact on mortality rates. The study looked at the consumption of a variety of different fermented foods, including vegetables, milk, yogurt, sour milk, and pickled/marinated vegetables.

Recommended: How to Eliminate IBS, IBD, Leaky Gut

Researchers believe that changes in the microbiota, fueled by less fermented foods and less diversity, may contribute to increased spread or severity of COVID-19.