Why does our body produce snot/congestion when we have a cold?
In: Biology
**Long Answer:** When you have a cold, the viruses trigger a form of your body’s defenses called histamines. These histamines are meant to make it easier for white blood cells to pass through blood vessels and capillaries to combat germs/pathogens (they’re pretty much clearing a path for the body’s “army” to combat the invaders). This has the side effect of inflaming your nasal passages and producing more, thinner mucus.
**Simplified ELI5 Answer:** Basically, your body tries to defend itself from invaders, but in the process causes collateral damage, leading to your once dry nose and countless tissues being filled with mucus.
It’s part of a general strategy of clearing pathogens sometimes called “weep and sweep”: make lots of fluid to trap pathogens, then push it out of your body. If you have a respiratory infection, that’s snot and sneezing/coughing. If it’s a gut infection, that’s mucus and diarrhea.
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