Top 10 Gross Things Your Body Produces

Oxygen goes in, carbon dioxide comes out - it’s an elegant system, but sometimes, throughout the day, in addition to breathing, you also swallow air into your stomach. The body’s got to get rid of it somehow, which is where belching comes in. Unfortunately, the air that comes up carries with it little particles and the unmistakable scent of whatever you’ve been eating and drinking. If you don’t burp it up, then… the air eventually comes out the only other place it can, where, unfortunately, it picks up the scent of the solid materials with which it has most recently been sharing a space.

In defense of this salty bodily secretion, it does the body a lot of good. First and foremost, it helps us to keep cool. Secondly, it works to cleanse the body. Third and perhaps most interestingly, it contains scent markers that scientists believe may be used to send subconscious signals between humans, ranging from fear and anxiety, to arousal. For all the good it does us, sweat is still something that most people would rather not deal with. Though it doesn’t inherently smell bad, the fatty, protein-rich sweat released from the apocrine sweat glands does send bacteria into a feeding frenzy, which ultimately results in the dreaded body odor. It’s also quite simply uncomfortable.

Alright, this is a bit of an outlier because foot fungus isn’t actually something the body produces per se, but rather something it can acquire and foster. Fungus is actually a collection of itty-bitty organisms that infect other living things, seeking out cool, dark, damp spaces in which to grow and prosper - usually to the discomfort of the host. Unfortunately, our feet, toes and toenails are the perfect breeding ground for just such a microscopic colony. If left untreated, foot fungus can spread from toe to toe, and your nails could just straight up fall off.

What is that goopy stuff in the corner of your eye when you wake up in the morning? Some people refer to it as “sleep,” but that’s just a nice label to distract from the gross factor. What you’re actually wiping from your tear ducts is a mixture you'd imagine trolls or goblins would enjoy as a tasty treat. It is, after all, a yummy blend of dead skin cells, oil, mucus and any other dirt and grime your eye may have picked up throughout the day. A small amount of this discharge is actually quite normal, but excess buildup is often a sign of allergies, infection or other conditions.

Another unavoidable classic! This bodily fluid, more than any other on our list today, has worked its way into the very fabric of our daily lives. Lineups and scrambles to find a bathroom in public places, scheduled pee breaks on long drives - urine is the bodily fluid that governs our society. But what’s going on with it… really? This yellowy liquid is primarily made up of water, salt and a few choice acids, is a by-product of your kidneys, and serves to flush the bad stuff out of your system. It can actually be used as a great gauge of your health, but all things considered… it’s rather foul stuff.

Oh come on… you knew we were going to wind up here eventually. Ejaculate has an oddly chlorine or bleach-like smell, it tends to be influenced by diet and it has an absurdly sticky, thick consistency to it. It also comes out warm from the tip of a penis, and unless in a confined space… has the nasty habit of shooting out suddenly and reaching variable distances. Though none of us would be here without ejaculate, it’s hard not to be grossed out by this bodily fluid that contains millions of little tadpole-like entities swimming around in it.

We can only assume that acne has been inspiring embarrassment and inter-adolescent bullying since the dawn of time. Pizza face, crater face, Zitty Pimpleson - there’s no shortage of mean names you can call someone with acne, but you probably shouldn’t because we all get them at one point or another. Universal though they might be… these pus-filled blemishes are rather unsightly, and when they burst, the eruption can be downright stomach churning. Acne is an example of good bacteria gone bad… and when “Propionibacterium acnes” acts out… things get ugly fast.

It’s already made an appearance on our list as a contributing ingredient to eye discharge, but mucus is arguably even more disgusting when allowed to stand on its own. Though it calls our sinuses home, this thick bodily secretion has a nasty knack for traveling - either through the nose or back into your throat. It serves an important role in protecting our bodies from infectious foreign bodies, but that doesn’t mean that we have to like it. A thick glob of mucus caught in the throat is actually enough to trigger a gag reflex in some people – which only leads to more nasty.

Yep. Sometimes, the body just can’t handle what you’ve been giving it, and in response… it hurls. This mixture of everything you’ve been eating and drinking, combined with acidic stomach bile, is likely disgusting enough to make you throw up, you know, if you weren’t already. With its foul odor, revolting texture and the off-putting sounds that usually accompany it - there are few things more disgusting than vomit. It’s just so obviously a substance that we were never meant to see - a window into the digestive process that we’d prefer to keep shuttered.

Look, no one likes having to deal with poop, but if you had the choice between throwing up food waste or passing it through your sphincter… you’d probably go with the same choice evolution already made for us. Unfortunately, not all bowel movements are created equal - and while a nice, smooth, firm piece of feces is easy enough to deal with, fecal matter in a liquid state is just about the worst substance imaginable. With its explosive qualities, unpleasant viscosity and stomach-churning aroma… diarrhea wins this contest of grossness by a long shot.