Picking your nose and eating it is gross but good for you, study suggests

In polite society, picking your nose is not favourably regarded.

What happens behind closed doors between your finger and your nose is your business, but avid nostril divers may be pleased to learn that mining for nose gold could have some health benefits. A 2015 study from the American Society for Microbiology has suggested that we should not only be picking our noses, but we should be actively encouraging our kids to do so as well. Apparently, snot has properties that are beneficial for our health, especially in children's development. Snot contains salivary mucins which forms a barrier against cavity-causing bacteria, which is good for our teeth and immune system, according to parenting website Kidspot. Austrian lung specialist Prof Friedrich Bischinger, said that the social stigma surrounding nose picking should be broken and eating our bogies should be encouraged. "Eating the dry remains of what you pull out is a great way of strengthening the body’s immune system," he said. "Medically it makes great sense and is a perfectly natural thing to do. “In terms of the immune system, the nose is a filter in which a great deal of bacteria are collected, and when this mixture arrives in the intestines it works just like a medicine.” So if you're willing to withstand the horrified looks on the bus and shunning from your colleagues, go for it. At least science is on your side.