What is the calorie content of snot? How many proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are there in snot? Is it possible to chew snot on keto and whether this interrupts intermittent fasting? We are answering your most unexpected questions.
“Snot calories”: Verified by: Dr. Karina Kim
New coronavirus and old (but no less dangerous) flu are raging in the world. Mild SARS also keeps up. So every second person has got snot. In many cases, it is technically impossible to blow your nose. Therefore, quite intelligent citizens swallow mucus and ask themselves: “Does snot interrupt intermittent fasting, and is it acceptable on a keto diet?”
So, in our fickle but sparkling column, we answer your most unexpected questions.
What is snot
Snot is muconasal secretion or nasal mucus. It flows from colds, allergies, or hypothermia.
Inflammation of the nasal mucosa is also called the runny nose.
If there is a lot of muconasal secretion, then it flows down the back surface of the nasopharynx, that is how, in fact, we eat it.
Mucus is a water-based fluid with glycoproteins, proteins, lipids, and electrolytes. Glycoproteins are two-component proteins linked to a group of oligosaccharides*.
Snot calories
In one cup (we use an American cup everywhere, 236 ml) of snot is about 50 kcal.
What is snot made of
Translating from biochemical to human language, it means protein + carbohydrates. There are 1-2% of glycoproteins, and oligosaccharides are 50-80% of snot.
All this together is 5-10% of snot, and the remaining 90% or more is water.
And this is about normal healthy mucus.
“It is worth considering that during SARS and a bacterial infection, the snot will be different,” says, while trying not to laugh at such a serious question, geneticist Karina Kim.
How much snot does a person eat per day?
A healthy person produces about four cups of snot. That is, about 200 kcal per day. During illness, this number increases several times.
Is snot possible on keto, does snot interrupt intermittent fasting?
Let’s imagine we say that snot is not keto (lots of carbs, no fat). So what?
All people on the planet produce mucus, ingest it, which does not prevent you from getting all the benefits of the intermittent fasting. You produce it and you eat it – no need to note it to your food diary.
This probably applies to boogers as well. By the way, microbiologists have recently called the disgusting habit of picking the nose very useful. But that’s a completely different story*.
If you have some questions about a keto/carnivore diet, biohacking, intermittent fasting don’t hesitate to ask me on Instagram @olenaneskin
How mucus keeps us healthy?
Find out the answer in four minutes.
*Links to scientific studies mentioned in the article:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320129742_The_biology_of_mucus_Composition_synthesis_and_organization
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4272720/
Sorry… do boogers have calories?