In the defence of boogers in the ketogenic way of eating

#1

Boogers. There I said it. (It’s winter here. Full of Booger Nights).

boogers
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We ate them as kids. And that is interesting. Our noses as snack dispensers. Testing the world like puppies, with our sense of taste.

I’m not sure yet, and I’m sure we will discover, what goes in to a low carb keto booger recipe. I postulate it is mucin and mucus, some pus that includes our biome partners, with green boogers having more eosinophils (a type of immune defence cell) as compared to white, grey or yellow-ish boogers. There may be some blood or serum. The broken cells will release salts. Then there will be all broken bits of bugs and antigens in the mix.

Why eat them? My best theory is that boogers are a form of self-inoculation. The antigenic proteins are packaged up by the innate immune system that patrols the lining of our nostrils. When eaten the potential invader particles are presented to the gut, which is a massive immune system organ. From that presentation the immune system can catalogue and place into memory (T-cells) the potential disease causing proteins and recognise them if they gain entry into the body to stop an infection. Alternatively, they may just taste good.

This is just a coffee generated idea. There has been no PubMed search done, yet. I hope we can flesh it out a bit with facts. And discover if boogers really are low carb, or maybe even carnivore, eating appropriate (but not in public).

Epic Carnivore July-a-ganza
(Joey) #2

I suggest this important topic be moved to the Show Me The Science category so we can better explore potential designs for RCTrials.

#3

Adding some confirmation bias here.

Scott Napper, a biochemistry professor at the University of Saskatchewan, theorizes that boogers, whose makeup are slightly sweet, may actually taste good to kids. More to the point, he believes that if children pick their noses and eat their boogers, they may actually be revving their immune systems in the process. According to Napper, children who eat boogers may have a physical advantage. Besides, he posits, the body continually makes nasal secretions and everyone, even adults, swallows these secretions. Eating them via nose retrieval is simply a different delivery method. As of 2013, however, his theory remains untested [source: Jaslow].

Boogers are sweet? Hang on a second, just let me check.

#4

OMG! You stop this right now young man! Don’t make me come slap ya! :crazy_face::nauseated_face: