Eating mucus is the act of extracting nasal mucus with one's finger (rhinotillexis) and the succeeding action of ingesting the mucus from the nose-picking (mucophagy). Nasal mucus is also termed as boogers, snot, bogeys, dried nasal mucus, mucus secretion, and other related terms including comerse los mocos (to eat one's snot).
Mucophagy is a common behavior in children. However, this action is condemned in most cultures and societies which try to prevent development of the habit and attempt to break it if already established. Mucophagy is a source of mockery and entertainment in the media thus confirming the social scorn previously mentioned.
Health
Mucophagy comes with many health risks due to the potential physical destruction resulting from the action of nose picking, and the germs on fingers and in mucus. Picking one's nose can cause upper airway destruction as well as other injuries including nasal septal perforation (a "through-and-through defect" of the cartilage separating the nostrils), and epistaxis (nosebleed). In a study by Andrade and Srihari, 25% of subjects were ailed by nose bleeds, 17% with nasal infections, and 2% with damage more serious than bleeding. 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.
That being said, mucophagy could improve the immune system of those who practice it. According to the hygiene hypothesis, the recent increase in auto-immune diseases and allergies could be because of lower exposure to pathogens during early life and into adulthood. An effective way to transfer germs from the outside world into the body is through mucophagy, and some scientists postulate that the germs in mucus are weakened and therefore train the immune system without causing disease.
Possible reasons
The Obsessiveâ€"Compulsive Disorder Association of South Africa collectively concluded that nose picking (and mucophagy) are passing behaviors. Andrade and Srihari studied persons who were more apt to suffer from "habitual and obsessiveâ€"compulsive behaviors." They discovered that those with psychotic issues showed correlation between nose picking and self-mutilation motives. Diagnoses have also included passiveâ€"aggressive character disorder and schizophrenia.
Mucophagy has also been referred to as a "tension phenomenon" based on children's ability to function in their environment. The different degrees of effectively fitting in socially may indicate psychiatric disorders or developmental stress reactions. However, most parents view these habits as pathological issues. Moreover, 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."
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. As mucus filters airborne contaminants, eating it could be thought to be unhealthy; 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. Friedrich Bischinger, a lung specialist at Privatklinik Hochrum in Innsbruck, says that nose-picking and eating could actually be beneficial for the immune system.
In 2016 researchers in the quest for ways to fight superbugs discovered a promising candidate, a bacterium Staphylococcus lugdunensis that produces lugdunin, which The Week noted as "possibly a powerful antibiotic against resistant bacterial strains." The German team included study author Andreas Peschel, who told the L.A. Times "It was totally unexpected to find a human-associated bacteria to produce an antibiotic."
See also
- Allergic salute (wiping of the nose with the hand)
- Neti (Hatha Yoga)
- Nasal irrigation
- Taboo
References
