According to Study, Picking Your Nose Might Actually Be a Good Thing

As moms, we are constantly after our kids to stop doing gross things. Please don’t pick up that dog poo. Please don’t lick the table. Please don’t roll around on the bathroom floor. Please don’t keep picking your nose. And please, please don’t eat your boogers. But wait. What if our kids are on to something? Maybe not with the bathroom floor or dog poo. But with picking their noses. Yes, I know it seems pretty repulsive to think of digging in your nose and then putting said contents into your mouth. But according to one study, eating mucus might actually be good for us.

Ewwwwwwwwww

Yeah, I know. That’s my initial reaction too. But according to the Daily Mail, one recent study published in the American Society for Microbiology reveals that eating those nasal treasures might help boost our immune systems. The study  concluded that mucus is an excellent source of “good” bacteria. This bacteria can help in a number of ways, from defending you against stomach ulcers and respiratory infections, to aiding in the prevention of cavities on your teeth.

The most surprising discovery, though, was the suggestions that boogers themselves could help prevent HIV infection. These findings are so substantial that researchers are actually trying to create a “synthetic mucus toothpaste.” Word is they are also working on making a mucus chewing gum, too. But uh, hopefully it doesn’t taste like it.

“Eating the dry remains of what you pull out is a great way of strengthening the body’s immune system. Medically it makes great sense and is a perfectly natural thing to do,” Professor Friedrich Bischinger told the Daily Mail. Bischinger is an Austrian lung specialist. Adding, ”In terms of the immune system, the nose is a filter in which a great deal of bacteria are collected, and when this mixture arrives in the intestines it works just like a medicine.”

But even knowing all the benefits of what mucus could do for us, how do we get over the yuck factor?

Giphy / comicvine
Giphy / comicvine

My guess is as good as yours. I think it might be too late to convince most adults that this is a beneficial practice and not just totally gross. But maybe we don’t have to stop our kids from doing it right away?

What do you all think? Let us know in the comments!

(Image: iStock / WebSubstance)

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