The role of saliva

Saliva is commonly known as spit. As we all know, it is a colorless, odorless liquid. We secrete saliva every day. An adult can secrete about 1.5 liters of saliva every day, which is half a thermos of saliva. Are you surprised? It turns out that we produce so much saliva every day without realizing it. In ancient times it was called "golden liquid", but in modern times, it is not considered so precious.

In fact, many people think that saliva is not a good thing. For example, spitting at someone is uncivilized, spitting while talking makes people feel uncultured, and saliva falling into food while eating makes people feel disgusted. So what exactly is the role of saliva? It must have a good side, right?

Functions of saliva:

① Moisten the mouth and food to facilitate speaking and swallowing.

② Dissolve food and continuously remove food particles from the taste buds, so that you can continue to taste the flavor of the food.

③Clean and protect your oral cavity.

④Antibacterial effect.

⑤Digestive effect.

Advantages of saliva: The carbonates, phosphates and proteins it contains can provide chemical protection for teeth; the amylase it contains can aid digestion; its ingredients can fight bacteria; it can clean the mouth; cancer and AIDS can be detected by testing saliva.

Disadvantages of saliva: Saliva can also spread diseases through the human body carrying germs.

The health-preserving function of saliva has been valued and recognized since ancient times. When the ancients first created characters, they used water from the side of the tongue to represent the character "活", meaning that the water (saliva) on the side of the tongue can maintain the vitality of the human body. In order to emphasize its importance, medical scientists and health experts of all generations gave it such beautiful names as "Jinjin", "Yuye", "Qiongjiang", "Ganlu", "Yuli" and "Huachi Shenshui".

So saliva can help us clean our mouths, help us swallow food, and also help us digest and kill bacteria. I remember when I was a child, when I was bitten by a mosquito, the old people would tell me to just apply some of their own saliva. So saliva is a physiological substance secreted by the human body, and it definitely has its own value.