The human body is one of the most complex and also amazing living forms on Earth. It has lots of interconnected systems and organs that all work together to achieve different things needed for humans to be alright. Every one of these parts is very crucial in our day-to-day life and we can’t even do without some of them.
Due to the complex nature of the human body, there are lots of fascinating things that many people don’t even know about their own body. In this article, I’ll be sharing with you interesting facts to know about the human body and without wasting much of our time, let’s get right into the body of today’s article (sorry, couldn’t resist the urge).
Your blood vessels would stretch for more than 60,000 miles if laid out
The blood vessels are a very important part of the human as they are the ones that carry blood to every part of the human body. The blood vessels in the human are arteries, veins, and capillaries. Each of them performs specific tasks, examples are the veins carry blood to the heart, the arteries carry fresh oxygenated blood away from the heart and the capillaries connect both of them together.
The blood vessels have a complex network and if you were to lay them out, they would stretch over 60,000 miles for an average child and about 100,000 miles for an average adult.
This may not sound that big to you but when you compare it to the fact that the Earth’s circumference is about 25,000 miles, you’d realize that the blood vessels of a person can stretch around the Earth multiple times.
You’re taller in the morning
This may not be noticeable in your day to day life but it has been confirmed that when you wake up in the morning, you are taller than you were when you slept the previous night. The height difference is not that significant as it is between 1cm and 2cm. This happens because during your activities in the day, you exert pressure on your joints and that makes the cartilage in your spine compress a bit. When you finally go to sleep at night, the pressure is no more and this causes the spinal disks to relax and return to its full length.
When you were born, you didn’t have kneecaps
Well, many people might think that we were born with our kneecaps as they are meant to be a crucial part of the human body but the truth is that we were born without them. In babies, there are no kneecaps but between the ages of two to six, they begin to develop one as that is when ossification occurs. Well, if you’re not familiar with biology terms, ossification is the process of cartilage turning into bone in young children.
Your lungs are not the same size
There are two lungs in the human, the right one and the left one, you may think they both have the same size but you are very wrong. The left lung is said to have two lobes while the right lung has three lobes. This makes the left lung around 10% smaller than the right one, thereby, allowing more space for your heart.
You breathe in about 11,000 liters of air every day
An average human being is estimated to breathe in around 11,000 liters of air every day for them to be at their utmost best.
Your heart beats around 100,000 times per minute
An average person is estimated to have around 100,000 heartbeats per day depending on his/her beats per minute count. This adds up to 365,000,000 million beats in a year and over a billion if you live past 30 years of age.
The brain uses most of the body’s energy
Despite the adult human brain weighing about 1.5 kg and making up about 2% of the body’s weight, it is the single part that uses the most body energy with a massive 20%. This is way more than many of the other organs in the human and it also shows how crucial the brain is in our days to day life.
The heart pumps much more blood than you can imagine
As you already know, the heart beats about 100,000 times per day and this translates to about 2,000 gallons (or 7570.8 liters) of blood pumped every day. This is needed in different parts and organs of the human body to sustain life.
You breathe in about 11,000 liters of air each day
An average human is estimated to breathe in around 11,000 liters of air every day if you’re in a favorable environment.
You have about 2000-4000 taste buds
The adult human is estimated to have around 2000 to 4000 taste buds and they all aren’t located on the tongue as many people expect them to. The taste buds are what help up to taste things that we consume. Some of these taste buds are located in the esophagus, the nose, and the back of the throat. I know you might be surprised seeing the nose among them but the nose doesn’t just smell, it also helps in tasting as they are both interrelated.
The cornea has no blood vessels in it
The cornea is the transparent part of the human eyes that covers the pupil, the iris, and the anterior chamber. It is one of two parts in the human body that has no blood vessels, the second being the cartilages. Being transparent, the cornea lets light pass onto the retina, then to the brain to process what you’re seeing. Why the cornea had no blood vessels couldn’t be explained until 2006 when it was discovered that the presence of large amounts of a protein called VEGFR-3 is what allows the cornea to be free of blood vessels.
The human brain shrinks during pregnancy
When women get pregnant, there are said to be noticeable reductions in the grey matter of the brain, especially in the cerebral cortex. These reductions aren’t said to have any negative effect on the woman as it even helps the brain to process social situations better. For example, it lets the mother recognize the needs of her baby better, it also lets the mother be aware of the baby’s emotions, and it also increases the bonding between the mother and her baby. The reductions have been seen to still be present in the brain even 1-3 years after pregnancy. Unless you’ve studied these medical trivia questions and their answers you won’t know ael these.
There’s a massive amount of sweat pores on your body
The human body is said to have about 2.5 million sweat pores which all work together to regulate the body temperature and also help with the passage of metabolic waste away from the body.
The smallest bone is in the ear
The smallest bone in the human body is found in the ear and it is the stapes, which is located in the middle ear and is shaped like a stirrup. It is the part of the ear that measures sound vibrations and sends them to the brain.
The liver can completely regrow itself
The liver is a very resilient part of the human body as it can regrow itself back to its normal size even when reduced by as much as 75%. The liver cells can replicate rapidly and this allows the liver to grow back to its original size in about 6 weeks when reduced by as much as 75%.
Earwax is good for the ears
Earwax may look gross and annoying which is a reason most people seem to get rid of them but they are good for the ears as they help to clean, lubricate, and protect the ears. They prevent specks of dust and other things from getting far into the ear thereby keeping the ear healthy.
Your intestine is four times your height
The small intestine is about 18 to 23 feet long when uncoiled and depending on your height, it could be four times your height or even more if you’re short.
The tongue is a muscle but it is a bit different
All the muscles in the human body help to connect two but the tongue is the only exception as it doesn’t join any two bones together. It is connected to the hyoid bone at the neck but has nothing on the other end.
You lose bones as you grow
When a human is born, there are about 300 bones in the body but as the person begins to grow the number of bones starts to reduce as some of them fuse together because of ossification. Once you reach adulthood where you stop growing, there are 206 bones left in the human body.
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