How Mucus Keeps Us Healthy

For next time you’re suffering from a respiratory infection, or even just seasonal allergies, this might make you feel better about it:

It’s not so much of a problem

Dr. Katharina Ribbeck explains for us how our body produces more than a liter of mucus every day*, coating moist surfaces that aren’t covered by skin, including our eyes, nose, mouth, lungs, and stomach. It prevents delicate tissues from drying out and cracking, lubricates our eyes, protects our stomach lining from acid, and traps or removes substances that could make us sick.

^{*And that’s when we’re healthy! Never mind those occasions when it feels like a liter or more of mucus!}

To categorize them a bit and go into a bit more details, the main jobs of mucus are as follows:

• Forming protective barriers: mucins are specialized glycoproteins made of proteins and attached sugar chains that give mucus its slippery consistency. their water-attracting sugars help keep mucus hydrated, while mucin molecules form a complex network that creates a protective barrier against pathogens and other foreign substances.
• Defense against infection: mucus continuously moves bacteria and dust out of your respiratory tract, preventing bacteria from attaching to lung tissue or entering your bloodstream. mucins, antimicrobial peptides, antibodies, and bacteriophages (viruses that attack bacteria) work together to prevent harmful bacteria from forming protective clusters called biofilms. During infection, your body increases mucus production and sends additional white blood cells into it to help flush out harmful microbes. the greenish color of mucus often associated with infection comes from an enzyme produced by these white blood cells.
• Microbiome maintenance: mucus houses and regulates trillions of bacteria, most of which are harmless or beneficial. these bacteria help synthesize vitamins, suppress harmful inflammation, and control the growth of potentially harmful species, making mucus an essential part of maintaining a healthy microbiome.

For more on all of this, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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Take care!