Do Boogers Have Calories? Do you Need to Calculate Them?
June 23, 2022
Do boogers have calories? Why would anyone even want to know?
We all know that food fuels our bodies. But what about the other stuff that comes out of our bodies? Does that have calories too? Do we need to consider them?
Let’s take a closer look at one of the most common bodily fluids – snot!
There are on average, about 35-50 calories in one cup of nasal mucous, or snot.
The good news? snot doesn’t have any calories worth calculating.
While it is possible to ingest nasal mucous, it is not going to make any difference whatsoever in making you gain weight.
It is highly unlikely that you will be swallowing 1 cup of snot at any given time, and even if you did, the caloric content you are ingesting is coming from within your own body already anyway.
These calories are not coming from an external source.
There is absolutely no reason to even fret over the caloric content of snot, ever.
What Exactly are Boogers Made Of?
Snot, also known as mucus, is produced by the cells in our nose and throat. Its main purpose is to trap dust, pollen, and other particles and stop them from entering our lungs.
It’s made up of It is made up of water, salt, enzymes, and glycoproteins.
Snot also contains:
dust
dead skin cells
dirt
Your nose is basically a giant filter. It is designed of course for breathing and the sense of smell, but it also helps to filter the air we breath before this air reaches our lungs.
This is the reason why boogers may look to have dirt or other debris within them.
Do Boogers Have Nutritional Value?
Interestingly enough, boogers actually do contain nutritional value. No, I am not saying you should eat them, I am just stating a fact.
Mucus is rich in antibodies, which help to fight off infection. This is useful to you if you ever get sick and you need your body’s help in order to fight it off.
Additionally, the dust and dead skin cells in boogers can provide valuable nutrients, such as iron and vitamin A. Interesting right?
The Protein Content of Boogers
Boogers also contain protein. There are about 40-60 mg of protein in 1 ml of nasal mucous.
While this is not going to be of any nutritional benefit to you (assuming you do not indulge on boogers,) it is an interesting tid bit of information to know.
You might have always heard jokes about how high in protein boogers are, well it turns out they actually do contain protein.
Does Snot Contain Fat?
As we discussed, snot, or mucus, is made up of water, salt, enzymes, and glycoproteins.
Some people believe that snot contains fat, but this is not the case.
Snot does not contain any fat cells or triglycerides. However, it may contain traces of lipids, such as cholesterol, which are found in the cell membrane of mucus-secreting cells.
These lipids help to keep the mucus slippery and prevent it from drying out.
To summarize, snot does not contain fat, but it may contain trace amounts of lipids.
Will Eating Boogers Break a Fast?
Wondering if accidentally eating nasal mucous will break your fast? I have good news. The answer is no.
Consuming snot, or nasal mucous will not break a fast. This is because the caloric content you are consuming is coming from your body, not an external nutritional source.
Your body makes nasal mucous, it is not coming from outside the body.
The caloric content of snot when accidentally consumed is not enough to illicit a metabolic response by your body anyway, let alone break a fast.
Conclusion
There you have it, you learned that boogers actually do contain calories, but not any that you actually need to calculate or even worry about.
You also learned that boogers have some nutritional value, and are made up of water, salt, enzymes, and glycoproteins, not that you would be consuming them anyway (I hope.)
You might think this is bizarre information, but what is bizarre to you, might not seem so bizarre to someone else.
Someone who has had difficulty in the past losing weight will often stress over things that actually do not matter in any way.
They start to ponder if certain things have calories that could be hindering the process.
You have learned everything you ever wanted to know (and more) about boogers and their caloric content, and that the caloric content in nasal mucous is nothing to worry about.
Now you can go forth and impress your friends with your vast knowledge on the subject!
