Well, who would have thought?!
Getting your toddler to stop picking his nose seems near impossible.
Especially because he often seems so proud of his 'findings' ;-)
I remember doing the same when I was little and the reactions of my parents, freaking out.
Just thought I'd Google it, wondering if there was any real harm in it, before copying my own mom, yelling at my boy to PLEASE STOP!
And surprise, surprise, this is what I found: "using fingers to pick and ingesting nasal mucus gives a natural boost to the immune system" according to this article on Wikipedia. Boogers are healthy... huh???
WTF? Are you with me?
So according to scientists to eat your snot bogeys is like preparing your immune system and to build up your natural defenses. Who would have thought...
It seems that the foreign pathogens that get stuck in the mucus in your nose, get crippled by the cocktail of antiseptic enzymes it contains. And eating those weakened bacteria and microorganisms can actually make your immunity stronger. It's acting like an 'all natural' vaccine, motivating your system to produce antibodies to everyday environmental contaminants.
We all know that being too clean has got an opposite effect on (young) people's health, leaving the body with not enough practice of fighting off those everyday contaminants, creating super resistant bugs and auto immune reactions like allergies, asthma, eczema and even heart issues later in life. This is also known as the hygiene hypothesis.
More information on nose picking and health related issues: Eating boogers may be good for you
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