When you cough up phlegm is it bad to swallow it or should you spit it out?
AnswerYes, it is perfectly healthy to swallow your phlegm.**Spit the phlegm out; don't swallow it. Among the many components that make up phlegm are substances like immunoglobulins and glycoproteins that help your body fight off an infection. When these substances get killed (together with the bacteria and virus they were fighting), they become part of what makes up phlegm. When phlegm gets coughed out, it means that they have served their purpose - remnants and refuse of the battle, so to speak - and are no longer necessary in the proper functioning of the body. They have to be expelled. Therefore, spit them out and don't swallow them back. Aside from the fact that swallowing phlegm is gross and unsanitary, it sometimes gets reintroduced to your pulmonary system, worsening your situation.**Nope! Acidity of the stomach is sure to destroy the bacteria. On the contrary, spitting the phlegm out is gross, even though into a napkin. As to the substances like immunoglobulins and glycoproteins, they are played out yes, however, it is very well known that they cannot be absorbed from the intestines as whole. Instead, the aminoacids and other monomers that constitute them are absorbed and re-used. Consider that we intake the proteins of someone else (an animal's). We use them after digesting them.**It may be healthy, but swallowing too much phlegm may cause it to clog up in your throat and turn into a nasty cough.