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Four things you never knew about your body

on
29/9/2023

You might have heard the well-circulated fact that we currently know more about the surface of the moon than we do about exactly what is in our oceans. Whether this is true or not, it’s often true that we know far less about what’s immediately around us than we do things which are more distant.

Chances are you know a lot more about your profession or hobby than you do the mechanisms going on inside you. And some of the things you think you know you might not know at all! Here are five things you never knew about your body:

1. You have more than five senses

We all know we have five senses and those of us who claim a sixth sense are watching too much psychic Sally or David Blaine, right? The truth is we pick out these five senses because they’re the most obvious, and it keeps things simple when we’re learning about our bodies. Scientists are still debating exactly how many senses we have, but our talents go far beyond a limited list of five. Things like knowing where parts of your body are with your eyes closed (proprioception) and our sense of timing count as senses.

2. Your tongue is your strongest muscle

Your tongue isn’t the biggest muscle in your body, but relatively speaking it’s by far the strongest and, like the heart, is always at work. If you stop and think about how much the tongue does from minute to minute you start to realise why it has to be so tough. From helping to mix food to binding and contorting itself to form extremely precise and nuanced sounds when talking, this is a muscle which never stops; even when you’re sleeping your tongue is constantly pushing saliva down the throat.

3. Your brain can power a light bulb

You brain is the hub of all activity so it gobbles up a lot of your body’s energy but it also generates a lot energy. Between 10 to 23 watts of power to be exact, which is enough energy to power a light bulb.

4. Your body regenerates

Some say that the body regenerates entirely every 7 to 10 years so that the body you’re in now is an entirely new one compared to a decade ago. Although the majority of cells do regenerate research has demonstrated that certain areas like your neurons in the cerebral cortex are never replaced. Still a lot of cells in your body will have regenerated so that aspects of you are only 7 to 10 years old; it’s a good fact to pull out if you’re approaching a birthday you’d rather forget about!

These are just a few interesting facts, but the truth is there are all sorts of fascinating aspects about the human body, some which we’re just exploring and some which we understand very well, so why not do some further research and see what obscure bits of knowledge you can find!

James Walker

Service Development Director & Senior Physiotherapist

James is the Service Development Director and a Senior Physiotherapist at the White House Clinic. He qualified from Sheffield Hallam University with a BSc (Hons) degree in Physiotherapy in 2009.

James Walker

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