Disgust, in evolutionary terms, is like your brain's internal “Do Not Enter” sign for things that might kill you. Essentially, disgust helps protect us from things that could carry pathogens or toxins, particularly in foods. While you're busy wrinkling your nose at the cheese fermented specially in the stomach of a baby goat, the mechanisms at play actually have a pretty critical purpose.

There are some foods out there that disgust me. There’s nothing inherently wrong with them, but they’re just so far outside of my realm of experience that they make my brain’s internal warning bells go nuts.

Wanna talk about a few of them with me? I feel like traumatizing someone today, and this article is the way to do it. Let’s jump in.

1. Gomutra – Indian cow urine. It’s best from a pregnant cow, apparently. This is used in Ayurvedic medicine in India, often touted for supposed health benefits. However, the "nutritional" appeal of cow urine is probably undermined by the fact that it's, well, urine. Most people don’t generally consider bodily waste an ideal beverage option. I’ve heard it’s got some pretty gnarly harshness to it that stings the throat—and don’t even get me started on those burps you’ll be tasting after.

2. Infested Cheeses (Casu Marzu, Su Gallu) – What’s not to love about cheese that's alive with maggots? Casu Marzu and Su Gallu are traditional Sardinian cheeses that literally depend on fly larvae to reach their peak… texture. The wriggling maggots help break down the cheese, resulting in a soft, spreadable treat. For those less charmed by maggot-infested snacks, this is understandably a hard pass. According to some, the ideal way to enjoy this cheese is to wrap it in a brown paper bag and leave it in the sun. The heat will gradually kill all the maggots inside. You’ll know it’s done… cooking… when the pitter patter stops. What pitter patter, you ask? Why, the gentle sound of maggots leaping from the cheese in an attempt not to be cooked alive.

3. Shiokara – Raw, fermented squid intestines in their own viscous fluids—Japanese fishermen probably aren’t chasing it down with smiles either. But there’s an audience for it among certain food lovers, especially in Japan. For you, the words “fermented squid gut slurry” may be causing a full-body clench, which, I suppose, would mean it’s not quite your thing. The thing is, I understand this food much more than the first two.

4. Century Egg – This so-called thousand-year-old egg is actually only preserved for a few months, but it smells and tastes… ancient. Known for a greenish, sulfuric yolk, and a translucent black egg white, it has a distinctly ammonia-like aroma. There’s an art to appreciating it, but I think I’ll stick to deviled eggs instead. I’m a die-hard fermented food lover, but the century egg takes things just a bit farther than I can handle.

5. Bugs – This one’s hard for me. There are some bugs that I actually want to try, like locusts and snails. I wouldn’t even turn down tarantula—as long as it was just the legs and all those hairs had been carefully burned away (yes, I know spiders aren’t technically “bugs,” but as far as Matthew and the culinary arts are concerned, everything creepy crawly is a bug). In any case, too many bugs just fill me with gut-wrenching nasty feelings to think about eating. Spiders with big butts? No way. Insects are packed with protein and eaten worldwide, but yeah, for many, eating creatures that usually inspire insecticide use doesn’t quite fit the dinner plan.

6. Balut – It’s just a fertilized duck embryo, partially developed and still in the shell, served up in a lovely broth. Known for its distinct texture of feathers, beak, and bones, this delicacy from the Philippines can be unsettling for those of us who like their food to have less, er, identity. I’m among those. I decided long ago that I don’t eat feathers and beaks. Would I try it…? Maybe.

7. Kiviak – A Greenlandic dish consisting of hundreds of whole birds (feathers, beaks, and all) stuffed inside a sealskin and left to ferment under a rock for several months. When you crack open that sealskin, you get an aroma only slightly more pleasant than, say, nuclear fallout. While I might try balut under the right circumstances, I might not even try kiviak if I were starving to death. That much fermentation and that radical of a texture are just too much for me to even think about.

8. Bird's Nest Soup – Swiftlets are a special bird that uses its saliva to create its nest. It squirts some out, lets it harden, then squirts out some more. The saliva all solidifies into a gelatinous mass and turns into the swiftlet’s adorable little home. It is also the star of this Asian delicacy. If you’re not immediately salivating over the thought of consuming hardened bird spit, I really can’t say I blame you. Again, logically I can’t think of anything actually wrong with it. But, uh, no thanks anyway.