What a disgusting question, right? But, as disgusting as they are, phlegm and nose snot are nothing more than a mixture of proteins and water with cell debris. Ear wax, in addition to proteins and water, also has some enzymes that kill invading micro-organisms.
Now, as we get into this weird subject, we can’t help but talk about other weird products of our body, like eye ooze, pee and poo. Although everyone has blemishes, they are not that harmless. If they are much more yellow than white, for example, they may indicate the presence of bacteria in the eye area, a sign of infections such as conjunctivitis.
Poop, on the other hand, doesn’t hurt anyone – except, of course, our noses! The work of bacteria in the large intestine, it forms at the end of the digestive process, when the nutrients in the food have already been absorbed by the body. After being stored in the rectum, waiting for the signal to leave, the feces eliminate water, dead bacteria, proteins and unabsorbed food remains.
Pee, which seems like a simple thing, is actually more complex. That of a healthy person has water, electrolytes (sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium), metabolized products of hormones and enzymes (such as urea and uric acid), in addition to the excess of everything that was consumed. It is produced in the kidneys, where there are hundreds of thousands of filtering units, the nephrons. Some substances are filtered and return to the circulation, but the “organic garbage” comes out through the urine.
So if you’ve ever heard a strange talk that drinking pee is good for your health, be suspicious. “Urine therapy is nothing more than the grossest charlatanism”, says nephrologist (kidney specialist) Agostinho Tavares, from the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp).
healthy filth
Foreign compounds protect the body against invaders and eliminate impurities
Snot-nosed
Both snot and phlegm are produced by glands in the lining of the nose. But the “caca” is hard because it is dried by the air that enters when we breathe. Every booger inside our nose serves as a kind of protective screen. Pollution and dust particles stick to them that can cause allergies, especially if you live in a big, polluted city.
ear wax
If you are addicted to cotton swabs, then you need to control yourself. “Wax is not dirt. Those who already have little and are still taking it out are more exposed to infections”, says otorhinolaryngologist Ricardo Bento, from USP. The ideal is to clean only what is apparent in the ear, as the wax, produced by glands in the ear canal, has powerful enzymes to attack invading microorganisms
catarrh
It has the same function as boogers, but instead of coming out through the nose, it is propelled by small hairs in the airways (so-called cilia) towards the mouth, to be spit out or swallowed. When there is inflammation caused by a virus or bacteria, phlegm production increases to eliminate invaders that have entered or are trying to enter the body. Because of the warm, humid environment that bacteria love, this “contaminated” phlegm can become infected and change color, gaining that disgusting greenish tint.
paddle
It appears because of irritation of the conjunctiva, the membrane that covers the inner part of the eyelids. The conjunctiva produces more mucus than normal and it accumulates in the inner corner of the eyes. If the smear is white, the cause of irritation is simple: it could be pollution, air conditioning or pool water, for example. But a very yellowish tone can indicate the presence of bacteria, which multiply when the eyes are closed, benefiting from a kind of “greenhouse effect”.
Pee
It is he who puts an end to the excesses of the organism, maintaining volume, pressure and the neutral pH of the blood. That’s why, when you ingest a lot of liquid, the urine comes out more diluted, more transparent. The first pee in the morning is usually concentrated, very yellow and with a strong smell, because, in addition to not drinking anything during the night, you still lose fluids through breathing and through the skin.
Coconut
What we eat takes up to eight hours to be digested and what has not been used takes a long time to be eliminated in the form of feces – from 12 to 24 hours. The smell of poop is up to each one, as it depends on the bacterial flora of the colon. Despite being unpleasant, this odor is already useful: a device was created in England that identifies the type of infection of someone with diarrhea based on the smell of poop