Copying the Japanese: Masks, microbes, and meals (Updated 23rd July)

After more than 2 years, Japanese researchers have finally published a study worth reading on the Japanese custom adopted by most of the pandemic-hit world: mask wearing!

So what did they do? “We aimed to (1) quantify and identify the bacteria and fungi attaching to the masks, and (2) investigate whether the mask-attached microbes could be associated with the types and usage of the masks and individual lifestyles. We surveyed 109 volunteers on their mask usage and lifestyles, and cultured bacteria and fungi from either the face-side or outer-side of their masks.”

And what did they find?

It’s nice to finally see evidence that some living organisms benefit from masking, just not humans. In terms of specific results, “The bacterial colony numbers were greater on the face-side than the outer-side; the fungal colony numbers were fewer on the face-side than the outer-side. A longer mask usage significantly increased the fungal colony numbers but not the bacterial colony numbers.”

Most “others” were polyurethane masks except a few gauze or cloth masks.

You’ll be happy to know that “most identified microbes were non-pathogenic in humans,” but unhappy to know that there were “several pathogenic microbes; Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Aspergillus, and Microsporum.” Park et al. “propose that immunocompromised people should avoid repeated use of masks to prevent microbial infection.” That sentence would be better if the words “immunocompromised” and “repeated” were removed.

In terms of lifestyle factors, Park et al. found no relationship between microbial counts on masks and mode of transportation (private vehicle, public transport, walking) or gargling/not gargling. But something that did increase microbial counts is a Japanese custom that unlike mask wearing hasn’t been adopted internationally: natto consumption.

As Park et al. explain, “Natto is made by fermenting soybeans with the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus subtilis, which can survive dry conditions.” And subjects who ate natto during the experimental period were almost three times more likely to have B. subtilis found on the face-side of their masks: 76% vs. 28%. Ummm, yummy.

So eating natto increases your chances of turning your mask into a petri dish. Funnily enough though, natto works quite well against SARS-CoV-2 in petri dishes, so it’s not all bad news for consumers of the stinky soybean slop.

Oba et al. found that “both SARS-CoV-2 and BHV-1 [bovine herpesvirus 1] treated with a natto extract were fully inhibited infection to the cells.” This seems to be because “the natto extract contains a protease(s) that inhibits viral infection through the proteolysis of the viral proteins.”

So could natto (again unlike masks) have contributed to Japan’s low Covid mortality? Well, no randomised controlled trials on natto consumption and Covid infections have been conducted, but we can check to see whether there is a relationship between natto consumption and Covid deaths across Japan’s 47 prefectures (hat-tip BBT_Success).

Horizontal axis: Covid deaths per million May 2020 to May 2022. Vertical axis: Annual natto consumption per household in yen

So natto consumption has a negative correlation with Covid deaths! And that’s more than can be said for lockdowns…

…and masks.

Figure 3: Correlation between average mask compliance and cases/million (A) or deaths/million (B) in 35 European countries.

And natto isn’t the only Japanese dietary staple with potential anti-Covid benefits. There are also seaweed…

…green tea….

…and rice.

The Japanese don’t just eat healthy foods more but also eat unhealthy foods less. The below graph (full study here) shows the food intakes of American males and females aged 40-19 as a percentage of the intake for Japanese the same age (the black bar is set at 100%). The American male intake for sweets is literally off the chart at 617.2% that of Japanese males. Can you guess which country has an obesity rate 9 times higher than the other (36% vs. 4%)?

Ratios of food-group intakes in the U.S. compared with Japan. Values are g/day/person in the age range of 40–49 years. The intake of each item in Japan was taken as 100%. The actual values of Japanese intakes obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Survey Japan, 2019, are shown below each bar.

In contrast, the Japanese consume more fish, and they like their fish the same way Covid likes it sufferers: fatty. This matters because, as the study points out, it “results in the high consumption of long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids such as EPA and DHA in Japan compared with the U.S…. Dietary intake of EPA/DHA is associated with a decreased risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease.”

Needless to say, populations with slimmer waistlines and healthier hearts have had fewer people die from Covid. In a 2020 analysis of 160 counties, Covid deaths per capita were most strongly associated with obesity rates and significantly associated with death rates of cardiovascular (CV) diseases and metabolic diseases (MD, e.g., diabetes and high blood pressure). In contrast, “Stringency of the measures settled to fight pandemia, including lockdown, did not appear to be linked with death rate.” It’d be nice if the media reported results like these, wouldn’t it?

Correlation matrix: a larger area in the circles indicates a stronger correlation between the row and the column variables. A blue circle indicates a positive correlation coefficient; a red circle indicates a negative one; a full circle corresponds to r = 1 or −1; an empty circle corresponds to r = 0. If the Pearson correlation test was not significant, a cross on the circle was added.

But the lower average BMI of the Japanese also seems to cause them to have worse reactions to mRNA vaccines. I guess you can’t win ‘em all.

Post-vaccine adverse events in Japan: evidence of racial differences?

So with over 2 years of data proving that BMI trumps NPI, have the public health establishment updated their advice? The quickest way to find out is to try to share narrative non-compliant research results on social media.

Oh, I wonder what “preventative measures” they mean. Let’s find out.

Masks! So we’re right back to where we started. Rather than tell people to copy Japan’s good example of healthy eating, the “experts” still insist that people copy Japan’s bad example of wearing facial fungus factories. The fact public health officials care more about what you put over your mouth than into it tells you clearly enough that they don’t really care about the public’s health. And that’s a fact that must be faced, not masked.

Unfavorable mask effects as components of Mask-Induced Exhaustion Syndrome (MIES). The chemical, physical and biological effects, as well as the organ system consequences mentioned, are all documented with statistically significant results in the scientific literature [1]

[1] The literature review on mask harms this figure come from can be found here. Give yourself plenty of time to read it though- it’s long.

Update 23rd July 2022

The below graph comes courtesy of Justin Hart. US states with higher obesity rates had higher age-adjusted Covid mortality rates! I’m sure you’re as surprised as I am.

The data is in! Lockdowns didn't do anything (except harm us)