2

The only secretion from the human body that I know to be kosher is human milk. I am curious to know which other bodily fluids are kosher.

For example, is it kosher to drink sweat or tears? What about mucus?

Assume that a person has only eaten pareve kosher food, and later vomits it out. Is this vomit kosher?

There's at least a dozen other related questions that come to mind, but I'll stop here to avoid being gratuitously gross. In general, which bodily fluids are kosher and which ones are not?

Improve this question
4
  • 2
    Are you only asking about the dietary laws (Kashrus) or will you accept prohibition on different grounds?
    – Avrohom Yitzchok
    Commented Sep 11, 2016 at 17:18
  • @AvrohomYitzchok Sure, in the end, if it's prohibited, then it's prohibited, regardless of which set of laws the prohibition is categorized in.
    – Peter Olson
    Commented Sep 12, 2016 at 2:10
  • 1
    @AvrohomYitzchok If you are referring to Bal Tishaktzu, that is a context dependent prohibition.
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Sep 12, 2016 at 5:07
  • related judaism.stackexchange.com/q/19071/759 judaism.stackexchange.com/q/60649/759
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Sep 12, 2016 at 5:10

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

This does not answer the question as far as “kosher” means “allowed under the dietary laws”.

There is a prohibition of “בל תשקצו" – not to make oneself abominable, see Vayikro 11 (43). Hebrew Wikipedia has an article.

Examples mentioned there of what is included are:

food mixed with vomit (which itself is disgusting)

drinking urine

and in the words of the Rambam

food and drink from which the souls of most people are revolted, e.g., food and drink that were mixed with vomit, feces, foul discharges, or the like.

Further one should not eat food which disgusts him whether or not it disgusts others. (Ref 8 in the quoted article: רבנו פרץ מקורביל, הגהות סמ"ק, סימן פ).

I assume that the law applies equally to solids and liquids.

So sweat, tears and mucus depend on how disgusted you are by ingesting them (context-dependent @DoubleAA).

Vomit is prohibited by בל תשקצו.

Improve this answer
9
  • 1
    Vomit and feces are context dependent too. (It's just harder to think of good contexts)
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Sep 12, 2016 at 13:15
  • Re - urine, my grandmother, a"h, told me that in Europe, doctors recommended people drink urine to cure violent coughs and sore throats. Perhaps, then, this was permitted only b/c it was for medicinal purposes? While this practice is uncommon , today (I guess Dr. Vick has found a better product?) can someone who feels that this method works, still do this?
    – DanF
    Commented Sep 12, 2016 at 15:25
  • I understand doctors used to taste urine to determine whether a patient was diabetic. (But presumably they spat it out.)
    – msh210 ♦
    Commented Sep 15, 2016 at 18:38
  • @DoubleAA, just out of curiosity, other than in some medical procedures, what would be a context in which one eating fæces would not be considered disgusting?
    – Noach MiFrankfurt
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 17:48
  • 1
    @NoachMiFrankfurt I haven't given it much thought. I'm just not ruling out the possibility.
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 17:55

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .