April 27, 2013

"Eating boogers may actually be good for your health."

"Scott Napper came up with the idea during a lecture on molecules in mucus....The scientist says that exposing the body to the germs caught inside mucus might help build immunity."
"It might serve as almost a natural vaccination, if you will,” Napper told CTV. "Simply picking your nose and wiping it away, or blowing your nose, you might be robbing it of that opportunity."
I blogged about this topic years ago, but it's hard to find the old post because I avoided using any of the key words that would allow me to search for it now. Anyway, I'm surprised to see this presented as a new idea. I guess it's an idea that is continually contemplated and repressed. Plus it's hard to study. It's easy to come up with the hypothesis. But design the study and carry it out.

30 comments:

traditionalguy said...

Science marches on.

David said...

How can you design a study when there are no people who do not eat boogers? There are quadruple amputees but these unfortunates have other health issues that might not make them a good comparison group.

Deb said...

RememberDr. Johnny Fever? He's a booger expert.

Hagar said...

What would we do without "scientists?"

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I've never met a sickly person who enjoyed licking doorknobs.

buck smith said...

One less gross way to do this is to use the saline nasal sprays to wash that crud down your throat

ricpic said...

Boogers alone aren't much of a munch,
But boogers and dirt, now there's a crunch!

edutcher said...

A post to rival, "Let's take a closer look at those breasts", on SEO.

Rusty said...

EEEwww!
Huge icky factor!

Deb said...

A good group to use as a study for this would be toddlers.

traditionalguy said...

This is snot a nice thread.

I suppose people start out with high standards that need lowering some.

As a child we were careful with runny noses and snot as children are taught to be. But when we grew of age to play football, we learned to accept people blowing noses by holding one nostril closed and blowing out the other one onto sweatshirts.

But I still resist public booger eating.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

If its sweet, you know you getting screwd.

Moose said...

This ranks right down there with eating placentas...

somefeller said...

I blogged about this topic years ago, but it's hard to find the old post because I avoided using any of the key words that would allow me to search for it now.

You don't know how to do a site-specific Google search? It's easy. Just input the words (like mucus, in this case, I assume) you want searched as follows in Google:

searchword site:althouse.blogspot.com

Google also allow you to limit your search by time-frame. Makes research easier.

chickelit said...

I doubt that Althouse blooged it. I recall the discussion in the comments. It was probably Titus-inspired.

James said...

I blogged about this topic years ago, but it's hard to find the old post because I avoided using any of the key words that would allow me to search for it now.

Should be easy enough to find anyway. Here's a pro search tip...
type the phrase "site:althouse.blogspot.com boogers OR mucus" (without the quotation marks) into Google and it will return every mention of either word on your blog.

Paddy O said...

You should pick your friends.
You should pick your nose.
Just don't pick your friend's nose.

If science is right,
if boogers bring health,
we have new advice.

Pick your friends,
pick your nose,
pick your friends' nose.

James said...

Oops...only just realized Somefeller posted the same thing about 30 minutes earlier.

Google offers two free self-paced courses on searching that are invaluable: Power Searching with Google and Advanced Power Searching with Google

http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/

George M. Spencer said...

If this is a habit or recurs frequently, go to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor and ask him (or her) to look up your nostrils.

It's possible your body may be forming excess amounts of this stuff due to obstructions in your sinuses that are preventing smooth air flow, thus causing mucus to dry out.

In my case, I had previously undiagnosed bone spurs. It took surgery to correct the problem. (It was also causing frequent sinus infections.)

ndspinelli said...

I have a lot of boogers. I have never eaten on,e but would not be averse to donating them to a food kitchen.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Nice Paddy.

Ann Althouse said...

"Should be easy enough to find anyway. Here's a pro search tip...type the phrase "site:althouse.blogspot.com boogers OR mucus" (without the quotation marks) into Google and it will return every mention of either word on your blog."

No, that won't work, because I didn't use those or any other key words like that. (As I say in this post.)

The old post is enigmatic and you can't tell what it's about unless you click on the link. I'm positive I wrote the post however, linking to an article that was even more positive about the much-maligned practice than this new one is.

The old post says something like: Go ahead! It's good for you!

Ann Althouse said...

If I could remember the exact words of the old post, maybe I could get there.

It's an old post before I started doing tags.

I went back to the oldest posts an began adding tags but didn't finish that task.

Anyway, take my word for it. I know I blogged this years ago.

Sorun said...

If the thought of something makes you gag, it may be nature's way of telling you not to do it.

Sorun said...

I've seen porn where a tongue is inserted into every orifice a human has except the nose. Never seen nose porn.

chickelit said...

Lighten up Sorun. Haven't you ever tried nasal?

jr565 said...

On the same note some people swear by drinking urine for the same effect.
Maybe two girls one cup was actually a health video.

Wince said...

Spaulding Smails...

"Fifty bucks more says he eats it."

The actor John Barmon who played Spaulding is a real estate agent in Cambridge, MA and visits the Howie Carr show from time to time.

Beach Brutus said...

Fours hours and eighteen minutes from posting to the first Caddyshack reference -- Thanks EDH I thought I would have to do I myself.

Helenhightops said...

For goodness' sake, it is not necessary to eat your boogers. Your nasal mucus circulates around and you eventually swallow it anyway. The body actually produces about two quarts of mucus per day, which should be very thin, and which should be continuous with the thin layer of mucus which lines the trachea and extends down into the more terminal recesses of the lungs, and which then is beaten upwards by the cilia until it emerges above the vocal cords where it is swallowed. In the process the mucus layer captures pollen in the nose, bacteria which make it below the vocal cords, etc. This was explained to me by the ENT when I complained about "too much mucus". He said if I noticed it at all, it is because it is too thick, not because there's too much. But we swallow mucus all day long.