Being exposed to bacteria is good for us in terms of strengthening our immune system so it can better fight disease and illness in the future.
Ingesting the bacteria in mucus causes the system to keep working and protect us.
Historically as well, Professor Napper added, we’re used to a lot of bacteria and now as most of us pretty clean, we’re not encountering the same amounts of nasty stuff as we used to, leaving our immune systems somewhat idle.
‘I’ve got two beautiful daughters and they spend an amazing amount of time with their fingers up their nose,’ he told CBC. ‘From an evolutionary perspective, we evolved under very dirty conditions and maybe this desire to keep our environment and our behaviours sterile isn’t actually working to our advantage.’
It’s not the first time science has told us to eat bogies. In 2017 universities including Harvard wrote in the American Society for Microbiology that bogey contains ‘a rich reservoir of good bacteria.’
They went as far as to say it could protect against respiratory infections, stomach ulcers, and even HIV.
Boogers could also stop from bacteria sticking to teeth, they found, suggesting that a mucus toothpaste might be good to create.
Most of us, though, would rather put literally anything else in our mouths.
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