Mucus is a slippery fluid that is produced by your body naturally.

What Is Mucus?

Mucus is produced to make it protect the body and keep it functioning in a healthy way.

So, while mucus might seem gross, its important.

What Is Mucus Made Of?

Mucus is produced by mucus glands.

In fact, roughly 95% of mucus is water.

It also contains electrolytes, lipids, and other important proteins.Most mucus is slick and clear.

Why Do We Have Mucus?

Under normal circumstances, mucus helps keep you healthy.

Mucus and Sickness

With some illnesses, your mucus becomes very noticeable.

Think about the common symptoms of a coldcongestion, coughing, and sore throat are all linked to mucus.

When youre fighting various viral or bacterial illnesses, your mucus becomes thicker.

That makes it move less easily, and become more noticeable.

When you feel the need to cough, sneeze, or blow your nose, listen to your body.

What Does Your Mucus Color Mean?

Mucus build-up in the pancreas causes the body to not release enough digestive enzymes, causing nutrient deficiencies.

Mucus in the liver can contribute to liver disease.

Because of this, the treatment of CF includes medications that are meant to thin mucus.

However, mucus plays a role throughout the body, during times of sickness and health.

Gastrointestinal Mucus

Healthy people produce mucus in their large intestines.

Part of the purpose of this fluid is to help your body process stool.

Because of that, you might noticemucus in your stoolwhen you poop.

Normally, this isn’t a cause for concern.

Cervical Mucus

Women also produce vaginal mucus.

This is produced by the cervix.

The amount and consistency of vaginal mucus changes throughout a woman’s menstrual cycle.

Monitoring the changes in vaginal mucus canhelp women identify when they are ovulating.

Right around ovulation cervical mucus is plentiful and often has a slippery consistency like raw egg whites.

This pop in of mucus is meant to help sperm to reach the egg.

As women’s cycles become more irregular with age, their amount of vaginal mucus can change as well.

Summary

Mucus might be icky, but its important.

It helps keep you healthy and, when that fails, can help you overcome sicknesses.

But it can also lead to a lot of discomfort when you have too much of it.

Controlling mucus when you dont feel well can help make a common cold a bit more manageable.

Remember that while mucus helps keep you healthy, it can make others sick.

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