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Taking care of our bodies is crucial.
We cannot achieve our goals if they are not cared for and nourished.
Every part of the human body is designed according to its function, and each one correlates with the others.
However, there are surprising truths about our bodies that you might not even be aware of.
In this blog, let’s unveil these mind-blowing facts about our bodies.
5 Mind-Blowing Facts That Will Surprise You!
1. Our nose can recall approximately 50,000 distinct scents
What do people usually think?
Most people imagine that our noses can only smell basic scents, either pleasant or foul odors.
But what if I told you that our noses smell thousands of different scents?
Here is the astonishing reality:
Our nose does much more than help us breathe and detect scents. They have a complex structure.
As we inhale, air moves through the nasal cavity before reaching the lungs.
This cavity plays an important role by trapping pollutants and bacteria in the mucus.
According to Winston Medical Center, the nasal cavities contain around 400 distinct types of scent receptors.
These receptors can identify up to a trillion different smells and, with the help of the brain, can recall about 50,000 of them.
This is why candle, hygiene, perfume, and body product companies use scents of flowers, trees, fresh fruit, food, herbs, evergreen, beach, sandalwood, and campfire.
2. Our body sheds approximately 18.14 kilograms (40 pounds) in a lifetime.
What do people usually think?
Most of us think that only animals, such as snakes, spiders, and crabs, shed their skin, and not we, humans.
However, you might be surprised that, like other animals, humans also shed.
Here is the astonishing reality:
According to BBC Science Focus, our body can shed skin at an estimated rate of 0.03 to 0.8 grams per hour.
While that may seem like a small amount, it accumulates to approximately 35 kilograms, or nearly half of an average person’s body weight, and it’s over a lifetime.
Interestingly, most of the dust in our households is from our shed skin!
The Britannica article states that our body sheds approximately 105 pounds of skin cells, which is around 47.63 kilograms, for a lifetime of 70 years.
This continuous shedding and regeneration of skin cells is a normal process.
3. Despite being tagged as “small,” our small intestine is the longest part of our digestive system.
What do people usually think?
Many people think that the small intestine is smaller than the large intestine.
It might sound unbelievable, but our small intestine is the longest part of our entire digestive system and is approximately 20 feet long!
Here is the astonishing reality:
Despite being called the “small” intestine, it’s the longest part of our digestive system, stretching up to around 20 feet (or 6 meters) in adults, according to MUSC Health.
The small intestine, also known as the small bowel, is a long, tube-like organ that connects your stomach to your large intestine.
It’s where most of the nutrients from the food you eat get absorbed into your body.
4. Our brain is approximately 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds), but it only uses 20% of the body’s oxygen and calories.
What do people usually think?
People often think that our human brain is not extremely heavy. It does so much, or very little, because it’s just “sitting there” in the head.
However, the truth is our brain is approximately 1.4 kilograms, even if we don’t feel its weight.
Here is the astonishing reality:
As stated by the National Institute of Health (NIH), the average weight of the brain (adult one) is about 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds).
And you know what? The total weight of our brain is approximately 2% of our total weight, yet it consumes around 20% of our oxygen and calories as we breathe!
What a demanding part of our body!
Moreover, the human brain is the only organ that names itself and still spends most of its time trying to figure itself out. Think about it.
5. We are taller in the morning than we are in the evening.
What do people usually think?
Many of us believe that a person’s height doesn’t change instantly and that time of day, whether day or night, doesn’t affect it.
Here is the astonishing reality:
According to “Health Beat” of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, they say we’re slightly taller in the morning than we are by the end of the day.
Moreover, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) states that the reason we are taller in the morning than in the evening is that gravity compresses our bodies.
“Normally, standing up in standard Earth gravity compresses these discs.
Because we sleep horizontally at night, we wake up ever so slightly taller courtesy of fluid-engorged intervertebral discs,” said Sibonga in her interview with The Star.
“When we’re walking around in the morning and we have that one-g [force] push on us, these discs start to extrude some of that fluid,” she added.
So yes, we’re a bit taller in the mornings than in the evenings!
Mind-Blowing Facts Wrap-up
Truly, our bodies are full of surprises that amaze us!
Understanding this simple knowledge about our bodies and extraordinary truths reminds us how our bodies work!
So, which of these mind-blowing facts surprised you the most?
We’d love to hear your favorite discovery in the comments below!
