Why was eating mucus a bad habit? It was a sticky situation.

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Human mucophagy, also known as eating mucus, is the act of ingesting the dried mucus extracted by nose picking.^[1]

Prevalence and health

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Stefan Gates in his book Gastronaut discusses eating dried nasal mucus, and says that 44% of people he questioned said they had eaten their own dried nasal mucus in adulthood and said they liked it.^[2] Andrade and Srihari cited a study performed by Sidney Tarachow of the State University of New York which reported that people who ate their boogers found them "tasty".^[3]

Mucophagy comes with some health risks due to the germs on fingers and in mucus.^[1] W. Buzina studied the fungal diversity in nasal mucus in 2003. 104 samples were gathered with 331 identifiable strains of fungi and 9 different species per patient.^[4] However, Gates comments that "our body has been built to consume snot", because the nasal mucus is normally swallowed after being moved inside by the motion of the cilia.^[2]

References

[edit]

1 2 Bellows, Alan (2009). "A Booger A Day Keeps The Doctor Away: A Medical Doctor Describes the Health Benefits of Nose-Mining". Alien Hand Syndrome: And Other Too-Weird-Not-To-Be-True Stories. Workman Publishing. pp. 28–30. ISBN 978-0761152255.
1 2 Stefan Gates, Gastronaut: Adventures in Food for the Romantic, the Foolhardy, and the Brave, 2006, ISBN 0-15-603097-7 (paperback), "Boogers", pp. 68, 69
↑ Andrade, Chittaranjan, and Srihari, B.S. (2001). "A Preliminary Survey of Rhinotillexomania in an Adolescent Sample." J Clin Psychiatry 62: 426–431.
↑ Buzina, W.; et al. (January 1, 2003). "Fungal biodiversity--as found in nasal mucus". Medical Mycology. 41 (2): 149–161. doi:10.1080/mmy.41.2.149.161. ISSN 1369-3786. PMID 12964848. Retrieved September 18, 2009 – via Google Scholar.

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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy was eating mucus a bad habit? It was a sticky situation.

Prevalence and health

See also

References