I know! It sounds disgusting, but eating mucus
is a very common habit in human beings. Children are the masters on this
practice and they usually spend the whole day picking their nose.
However, although you may not believe, an Austrian
doctor called Frederic Bishinger, states that it’s a very safe and healthy
praxis. According to the pulmonologist, not only is the finger exploring the
nostrils, but also is reaching parts that you cannot usually get to with a
tissue. Moreover, he explains that the nose is a sort of filter of bacteria and
other substances which tries to get into lungs through the air. So the resultant
mucus may work as a natural vaccine.
On the other hand, there is a popular belief
which says that eating mucus might increase your sexual potency and provoke
respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. Regarding the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), the psychiatrist and psychologists “bible”,
nasal mucus intake is defined as a behavioral disorder or behavior without
being consider as pathology and it is not considered as a eating disorder or
any type of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)
Would you let your children, nephews or
students keep picking their finger in their noses? Maybe their instinct of safety is more
powerful than their good manners!
