5 Mind-Blowing Things You (Legitimately) Didn’t Know About Your Body
It’s not always easy to love your body.
But let’s face it, your body really is amazing. We often take it for granted, but the fact that we have 37 trillion cells working together in intricate coordination to keep us alive is truly spectacular. At Ascent Chiropractic in Brookfield WI, our goal is to make sure they’re all functioning optimally.
Here are five quick facts for your Monday morning that you (legitimately) didn’t know.
1. The human body literally glows.
Humans are bioluminescent and actually glow in the dark, but the light that we emit is 1,000 times weaker than our human eyes are able to pick up. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals.
The amount of light you produce rises and falls throughout the day, with its lowest point at 10 a.m. and its peak at 4 p.m. Interestingly, your face glows more than the rest of the body.
This visible light differs from the infrared radiation — an invisible form of light — that comes from body heat.
2. Your heart rate increases about a minute before starting exercise.
It’s known as the anticipatory rise and it happens involuntarily – just thinking about that run you’re about to do gets your heart pumping. It’s due to an increase in activity of the sympathetic nervous system causing the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and noradrenaline into the blood stream.
3. You’re up to 2.5cm taller in the morning than you are in the evening.
From the moment you get up in the morning, gravity is putting vertical pressure on your spinal column. This pressure compresses the fluid-filled discs between each vertebra throughout the day. When you go to bed, that vertical compression on your spine is gone and the discs are able to rehydrate and expand to their full height again.
In fact, astronauts coming back from space are a few inches taller than their normal height on earth because of the lack of gravitational forces away from the earth’s atmosphere. They gradually return to their normal height when they arrive back on earth.
It’s also why many people who suffer from back pain can feel fine in the morning but be in terrible shape by the end of the day – rehydrated, plumped-up discs act as buffers between vertebra, minimizing the effects of misalignments.
4. More than half of all your bones are in your hands and feet.
The human hand and foot are two of the most complex pieces of natural engineering in our body, exquisitely evolved to perform a range of tasks. To accomplish what they do requires a ton of moving parts. Of the 206 bones in your body, 106 are in your hands and feet.
The 27 bones, 34 muscles, and over 100 ligaments and tendons in each of our hands gives us a powerful grip but also allows us to manipulate small objects with great precision. This versatility sets us apart from every other creature on the planet.
Similarly, our feet need to be strong enough deal with some of the greatest forces experienced by the body, whilst also being capable of movements as graceful as a ballerina’s pirouette. The 26 bones in the foot form three arches – medial, lateral and transverse – that absorb the forces created when you walk or run. These three arches also act as a spring; storing and releasing energy when you push off with your toes.
When your arches aren’t doing their job correctly, the structures above them – knees, hips, pelvis and back – suffer as well. It’s why we’re fans of Foot Levelers stabilizing orthotics at Ascent Chiropractic.
5. 98.6ºF isn’t the average body temperature anymore.
That standard was based on measurements taken 150 years ago. Today it’s much closer to 97.5ºF.
Why? Researchers suggest it’s due to lower levels of population-wide inflammation compared to the what they were in the 1800’s.
Advances in medical treatments, better hygiene, greater availability of food and improved standards of living, which provide humans with a constant ambient temperature, could all have contributed to this drop-off.
It’s also been suggested that the cooling may be due to our bodies being subjected to fewer infections and diseases as a result of improvements in modern medicine.
The Ascent Chiropractic Difference
Looking for a chiropractor in Brookfield WI? We’d love to help you get started with chiropractic care and help your body function at its best! Make an appointment at Ascent Chiropractic in Brookfield by calling 262-345-4166 or schedule an appointment with our online scheduling app.
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