There is a lot of trivia about your body that people know. Example muscle weighs more than fat, yatta, yatta. I found this blog post that had 10 Little Known Facts About the Human Body.
With a title like that, how can you NOT click on it. After reading it, there were a few facts that I could not shake. Especially since I am trying to join the 100 pound club this year.
1. For every pound of fat gained, you add seven miles of new blood vessels.
New tissue needs blood supply, so your vascular system expands to accommodate it. This also means your heart must work harder to pump blood through the new network, which may reduce oxygenation and nutrient replenishment in other tissues. Lose a pound? Your body will break down and reabsorb the unneeded blood vessels from the previous tissue.
Umm, gross. I am 100+ pounds overweight. That means I have a whole fucking country of unnecessary blood vessels in my body. It’s amazing though, when you make changes, your body gets rid them.
8. By the age of eighteen your brain stops growing.
From that age forward it begins to lose more than 1,000 brain cells every day. Only two percent of your body weight is occupied by your gray matter, but is uses up to 20% of your overall energy output (it needs carbohydrates). Your brain works continuously and never rests, even when you’re asleep. Aside from producing REM dreams, your brain works overtime to replenish its ability to function normally during your daytime waking hours.
So, what you’re telling me is when I see something that is inappropriately funny and I laugh, it’s okay since my brain is really only an 18-year-old? Good.
10. You need to consume a quart of water each day for four months to equate to the amount of blood your heart pumps in one hour.
Additionally, over a lifetime, at your normal (resting) heart rate you will have pumped enough blood to fill thirteen oil super tankers. To further expound on this fact, on average, your heart beats 40,000,000 times per year. Doing the math, over your lifetime (both men and women averaged), that results in 2,600,000,000 heartbeats (two billion, six hundred million). This does not even factor in your increased heartbeats due to your love of exercise.
I am constantly amazed by what the human body is able to do. Of all the things you take for granted, your heart probably tops the list. This journey this year will hopefully finally get me to where I need to be and let my heart take a break from working so hard for so many years. Here’s to the journey.
