15 Facts You Didn't Know About Your Body

Our body is capable of producing aspirin

Eating fruits and vegetables may help the human body make
its own aspirin. Findings from the Journal of Agriculture and
Food Chemistry indicate that study participants who received
benzoic acid, a natural substance in fruits and vegetables,
could make their own salicylic acid, the key component
that gives aspirin its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving
properties.

Taking a nap at work is good for your boss

A 20-minute nap can improve your overall alertness, boost
your mood, and increase productivity. William Anthony,
co-author of The Art of Napping at Work
(Larson Publications, 1999), says the post-nap boost
can last for several hours. In addition, your heart may reap
benefits from napping. In a six-year study of Greek adults,
researchers found that that men who took naps at least three
times a week had a 37 percent lower risk of heart-related death.

Ejaculation may cause men to sneeze

Some men experience pain, headaches, or sneezing as a
result of ejaculation. The increased activity in the nervous
system during orgasm may be the culprit in triggering
headaches. A possible explanation for the sneezing is
that in the brain, the center for orgasms is close to the
centers for yawning and sneezing.

Every person has a unique tongue print

Just like fingerprints. The tongue is a unique organ in that it can
be stuck out of mouth for inspection, and yet it is otherwise
well protected in the mouth and is difficult to forge. The tongue
also presents both geometric shape information and
physiological texture information which are potentially
useful in identity verification applications.

White skin has evolved over time

 

It seems we were all black ones (consistent with evolutionary
fact of first humans in Africa). White skin was a result of
humans moving away from the equator. Also all skin,
without coloring, would appear creamy white. Near-surface
blood vessels add a blush of red. A yellow pigment also
tints the canvas. Lastly, sepia-toned melanin, created in
response to ultraviolet rays, appears black in large amounts.
These four hues mix in different proportions to create the skin
colors of all the peoples of Earth.

The foot is home to the body's thickest area of skin

The skin on the palms and the soles of the feet is 4 mm thick
and the thickest skin in the body, the heel portions of the feet
being the thickest portions. It's also got the most sweat glands
than in any other area.

The appendix isn't as useless as you think

Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix actually
has a reason to be – as a “safe house” for the beneficial
bacteria living in the human gut. The beneficial bacteria in
the appendix that aid digestion can ride out a bout of
diarrhea that completely evacuates the intestines and
emerge afterwards to repopulate the gut.

The body is taller in the morning than in the evening

The body is taller in the morning than in the evening. You
might want to schedule that basketball game for first thing in the
morning. That's because our bodies are on average about half
an inch taller in the morning, thanks to excess fluid between
our discs, which is replenished while we sleep. As the day
goes on, and our bodies undergo the strain of standing,
the discs get compressed and the fluid seeps out, so the body
loses that small bit of extra height.

Humans glow in the dark

It was revealed by ultra-sensitive cameras that our bodies 

emit tiny amounts of light that are too weak for the human 

eye to detect. Amazing pictures of "glittering" human bodies

were released by Japanese scientists who have captured the first

ever images of human "bioluminescence". Although it has been

known for many years that all living creatures produce a small 

amount of light as a result of chemical reactions within their cells,

this is the first time light produced by humans has been captured

on camera. Strangely, the areas that produced the brightest

light did not correspond with the brightest areas on thermal

images of the volunteers' bodies.

The stomach produces a new lining every 3 days to avoid digesting itself with its own acids

There's one dangerous liquid no airport security can confiscate

from you: It's in your gut. Your stomach cells secrete 

hydrochloric acid, a corrosive compound used to treat metals

in the industrial world. It can pickle steel, but mucous lining the

stomach wall keeps this poisonous liquid safely in the digestive

system, breaking down your lunch but not your own stomach.

Body position affects your memory

Can't remember your anniversary, hubby? Try getting down 

on one knee. Memories are highly embodied in our senses.

A scent or sound may evoke a distant episode from one's

childhood. The connections can be obvious (a bicycle bell 

makes you remember your old paper route) or inscrutable. 

A recent study helps decipher some of this embodiment. An

article in the January 2007 issue of Cognition reports that 

episodes from your past are remembered faster and better

while in a body position similar to the pose struck during the event.

Big brains cause cramped mouths

Evolution isn't perfect. If it were, we might have wings instead 

of wisdom teeth. Sometimes useless features stick around in 

a species simply because they're not doing much harm. But 

wisdom teeth weren't always a cash crop for oral surgeons.

Long ago, they served as a useful third set of meat-mashing

molars. But as our brains grew our jawbone structure changed,

leaving us with expensively overcrowded mouths.

Blondes have more hair

They're said to have more fun, and they definitely have more

hair. Hair color determines how dense the hair on your head is.

The average human has 100,000 hair follicles, each of which is

capable of producing 20 individual hairs during a person's

lifetime. Blondes average 146,000 follicles while people with

black hair tend to have about 110,000 follicles. Those with 

brown hair fit the average with 100,000 follicles and redheads

have the least dense hair, with about 86,000 follicles.

The average person expels flatulence 14 times each day

Even if you'd like to think you're too dignified to pass gas, the 

reality is that almost everyone will at least a few times a day. 

Digestion causes the body to release gases which can be 

painful if trapped in the abdomen and not released.

Having orgasms prevent men from prostate cancer

Two large studies, reported in 2003 and 2004, found that 

middle-aged men who had (or at least remember having)

at least four orgasms a week throughout their 20s, 30s and

40s had a reduced risk of prostate cancer by as much as 

one-third. Some researchers speculate that ejaculations may 

clear the prostate of carcinogens.