• abbadon420@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    100
    ·
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    It’s the quantity. And also, by the time you’ve filled a cup of spit, it has cooled and dried a bit, maybe even breaking itself down, resulting in an increased viscousity, giving it a very unpleasant mouthfeel.

  • dbx12@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    39
    ·
    7 months ago

    Same reason you wear your socks the whole day but once you remove them they become eww. Human brain is weird in that regard. Probably has evolutionary reasons but from an entirely rational POV it’s weird.

  • VulKendov@reddthat.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    7 months ago

    I had some oral mucositis that caused some excessive saliva production. There was one time I accidentally swallowed a mouthful of it, it immediately caused me to vomit.

  • Oisteink@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    7 months ago

    Fluids that exit the body is like this. Only exception is blood from your own kin and tears. Anything else gets very dirty once out of body. Sweat, urine, vomit etc

    Spit in a cup and drink it and watch how your peers react.

  • jetA
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    7 months ago

    I swallow my own spit all the time. It’s not disgusting

    When you take a drink, there’s backwash into the drink, and most people finish their glasses. And they don’t feel like it tastes any worse.

    If you have trouble finishing off your own drinks, it’s a psychological issue not a physiological reaction to your own saliva

    • Buglefingers@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      7 months ago

      I think on this it would more mean, if you had to fill a cup with your saliva only, then drink it, there would be aversion to do so. However if it stays inside your mouth the whole time as regular saliva then the aversion wouldn’t be there.

      The question comes down to, why the sudden aversion to drinking it?

      • jetA
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which DNA can be extracted), enzymes (such as lipase and amylase), and antimicrobial agents (such as secretory IgA, and lysozymes).[1]

        I think it’s mostly psychological, but if I had a cup of my own spit, it wouldn’t last very long, it would quickly start to break down. And that would be unpleasant.

        So I think as much spit as I could fit into a cup in 15 minutes sure I could drink that no problem. Any longer than that and then you start having to worry about the breakdown and that’s going to change the flavor.

        • Buglefingers@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          7 months ago

          Oh I agree, it is absolutely psychological. I was only providing context for you because most people would absolutely refuse to drink it. I myself have a pretty negative history with saliva and would refuse to drink any amount once it’s left my mouth; regardless of the science behind it.

          I’m pretty sure most people already know it’s a psychological aversion but the why is the question. There is seemingly no reason for it

      • AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        7 months ago

        I mean… picking your nose is the same idea. It’s the same thing for why you’d want to drink flowing water, not stagnant water.

        And some of us do our best not to backwash.

  • Melobol@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    7 months ago

    You are swallowing that saliva during the day. Usually we make 0.5 and 1.5 liters daily (for us measurements 2 to 4.2 cups). And that needs to go somewhere. And it is very important part of our oral hygiene too.