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August 22, 2024

What Is Mucus? And Why Is It Important for the Human Body?

What is mucus

While we may not spend much time pondering mucus, the gooey substance plays a vital role to keeping us healthy. Being educated on the mucus in your body can help you spot when your snot is acting abnormally, which can often be an indicator of a much larger health problem. To learn more about this gelatinous and sticky material that lines your sinuses, nose, mouth, throat, and lungs, keep reading below to understand what mucus is and what purpose it serves in keeping us healthy.


What Is Mucus?

While our bodies produce mucus to both protect us and keep us functioning in a healthy way, mucus also varies in its function depending on where it’s located in your body:

  • Nasal mucus prevents us from sniffing in bacteria, viruses, particulate matter, and other harmful allergens. 
  • Mucus in our lungs helps remove dangerous bacteria that would otherwise cause an infection.
  • Our guts are lined with mucus to help us digest food with relative ease.

While it’s always produced by our mucus glands, snot can hold different consistencies depending on where it’s found in your body. Given how mucus is 95% made up from water, it also contains mucin, lipids, electrolytes, and an abundance of differing proteins.


Why Is Mucus Important for the Human Body?

The average human body produces about 1.5 liters of mucus per day, all of which helps keep our tissues lubricated and protects us against unwanted foreign particles. The color of your mucus can also warn you of potential health issues, such as when it’s:

  • Clear: Clear mucus is considered normal and healthy. No need to worry if your snot is this color.
  • Yellow/Green: While not always a cause for alarm, sometimes bacterial or viral infections can lead to yellow or green mucus.
  • Pink/Red: Usually due to excessive blowing or rubbing of the nose, this action can break certain blood vessels which can allow blood to enter your mucus. Pink or red mucus is generally caused by damage to the nasal lining.
  • Brown: While brown mucus may be caused from old dried blood, it can also be caused by inhaling dirt.
  • Black: Usually caused by heavy air pollution or even inhaling smoke, black mucus can also be caused by dangerous fungal infections.

How to Ensure Mucus Health

Whether you’re experiencing too much mucus, or if your mucus is too dry or runny, there are an assortment of methods to maintain your mucus health:

  • Use a Humidifier: Ensuring moist air can support the flow of mucus in your body.
  • Neti Pot: Using a neti pot can help unclog your nose of mucus congestion.
  • Breathe in Steam: Inhaling steam from warm water can help break up mucus so that you can blow it out.
  • Hydrate: Since mucus is mostly made from water, drinking plenty of water will help make your mucus thinner so that it can more easily move around.
  • Saline Spray: A spray with the intention to clear sinuses.
  • O2 Nose Filters: Helps capture viruses, bacteria, and other harmful particulate matter from entering our bodies.

O2 Nose Filters has been proven in controlled studies to help protect wearers from inhaling harmful airborne particles such as pollen, bacteria, viruses, dust, and other pollutants. Independent laboratory tests demonstrate that our Advanced Electret Media in O2 Nose Filters block 90% of particulates at PM10 and 65% of particulates at PM2.5. Additionally, O2 Nose Filters are comfortable to wear due to their latex-free design and medical-grade Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) materials.

O2 Nose Filters provides inexpensive and effective security to protect people from harmful airborne diseases and excessive mucus. While our nasal passageways try their best when it comes to filtering harmful particulate matter, they aren’t perfect. That’s why O2 Nose Filters are such an effective solution when it comes to improving our mental and physical health. Nose filters are a discreet, effective option to protect against airborne viruses and bacteria. The O2 Nose Filter uses our patented AEM™ electrostatic technology to capture allergens, viruses, and other particulates, making them a valuable tool for anyone who wants to drastically limit the pollutants and pollens they breathe in daily, as well as eliminate the presence of excessive mucus.

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