What the color of your snot means
Snot can come in nearly all shades of the rainbow. And each color of snot – also called mucus or boogers – tells you something different about what’s going on inside your body.
The scoop on mucus
Mucus is one of the body’s natural systems of protection. It does things like lubricate the esophagus to make it easier for food to slide down to the stomach, and it coats the lining of the stomach to protect from naturally occurring acid.
Our sinus, head and neck regions are naturally very moist environments, which means that these areas are commonly gathering places for mucus when our bodies are trying to send us a message.
Clear
“Normally, mucus is clear. When you have a cold or infection, it might turn green or yellow,” said Alyssa.
Clear snot usually signals allergies or some kind of environmental factor that is triggering your nose to start running, such as inhaling dust or allergens. Clear snot is nothing to worry about. If it’s an inconvenience, an over-the-counter medicine can help relieve the runniness.
Yellow
When you blow your nose and see yellow boogers, that usually means your body is fighting an infection. The yellow coloring comes from white blood cells that have rushed to the area to fight off the infection.
