Our bodies are incredibly complex organisms, with nonstop systems functioning like entire factories to keep us alive!
Our bodies are so good at sustaining existence, that we barely have to think about it.
Yet we can easily get so caught up in picking apart what we don’t like about our bodies that we forget to appreciate everything our bodies do for us.
Immense gratitude comes when we let go of body image thoughts (at least for a moment) and focus on the gift our bodies are.
These remarkable human body facts are amazing and remind us to be thankful, even when it's difficult!
Heart
Your heart delivers life to every part of your body, making sure oxygen and nutrients are received, for you to stay healthy.
For your heart to “beat,” it generates its own electrical charge, similar to a spark plug. Because of this electrical supply that it has, your heart is able to continue beating when disconnected from your body!
Within a single day, your heart beats 100,000 times and pumps 2,000 GALLONS of blood throughout your body.
If you stretched out all of your blood vessels, they would equal roughly 60,000 miles long. That’s the same distance it would take to travel around the entire earth TWICE!
Digestive System
Your digestive system takes food and drinks into your body, formulating the energy you need to keep going!
Your digestive system's process is intricately designed for food to be broken down and passed into your bloodstream to feed your 35 trillion cells. That’s 5,000 times more cells than there are people on earth!
Stomach acid, which digests your food and kills bacteria, is so powerful and corrosive that it can burn your skin. It contains the same chemical makeup used in toilet bowl cleaners! Your stomach lining replaces itself every 2 to 4 weeks to protect itself from the acid.
Your small intestine measures 22 feet long and is approximately 2,700 square feet - which would cover the size of a TENNIS COURT!
The GI tract is referred to as your “second brain” because it maintains a nervous system with 100 million neurons inside the gut wall. 90% of serotonin (your mood regulator) is produced in your gut!
Brain
Your brain plays the role of conductor, receiving and sending messages, enabling your entire body’s systems to work in harmony.
Nearly 100 billion neurons are in the human brain - that’s the same number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. There are so many nerve cells that it would take 3,000 years to count them all.
Your brain weighs around 3lbs and only makes up about 2% of your body’s weight, but it uses around 20% of its energy! 60% of your brain is made up of fat, which makes eating enough crucial for brain performance.
Your brain activity never stops, and while awake, your neurons can produce enough electricity (23 watts) to power a lightbulb!
Neurons send information fast, transmitting messages 150-260 miles per hour! That’s why when a bee lands on your foot, sensory neurons relay the information to your brain, and motor neurons respond by shaking off the bee quickly!
Body Fat
Body fat plays a diverse role that provides beneficial assistance to many different bodily functions.
Body fat (or adipose tissue) surrounds your vital organs to cushion them like protective padding. Without body fat, your organs would be more prone to damage.
Your body temperature is regulated by your body fat, acting as an insulator for you.
As a reserve of nutrients, body fat is the safeguard for survival. Thank your body fat for supplying nutrients to you the next time you’re stuck with the flu and have a difficult time taking in an adequate amount of food!
Adipose tissue is a metabolic and endocrine organ responsible for releasing and regulating hormones, such as leptin (the fullness hormone) and fertility.
Fat around the midsection aids in protection against side effects of menopause.
Body fat is a central component of your immune system, as it influences immune cell activity responsible for combating infection. When you have less body fat, you’re susceptible to a weaker immune system.
Bones
Bones are the basic structure, the foundation on which the rest of your body is built. Without them, there’d be nothing to hold you together!
Bones are living tissue that continually renew themselves. A human skeleton renews itself completely every 10 years!
Your bones are 5 times STRONGER THAN STEEL. The reason they can break is due to physics such as the speed and angle of an impact. That’s why a karate expert can break bricks with their hands and feet, but you can break your arm slipping on ice.
Your pinky is responsible for 50% of your hand’s total strength! It really is the little things that matter!
Eyes
What would we do without our eyes? They are the key to experiencing so much of life!
Your eyes can see and differentiate between 10 million colors. There are over 2 million intricate and connected working parts, and each eye contains 107 million light-sensitive cells.
Your eyes can focus on 50 different objects every second. That’s probably why we always try to multitask!
We “see” every image upside down because the front part of our eye is curved, which bends the light reflected from the objects we look at. Our brain turns the image the right way up!
Our eyes see the equivalent of a 576-megapixel camera, compared to the iPhone 12’s 12-megapixel. 80% of all learning comes through visual pathways, thankfully we can see well!
Breathing
We rely heavily on oxygen and breathing serves as that reminder!
Breathing muscles are controlled automatically, but breathing can ALSO be voluntarily controlled. Weird to think about, right?
Breathing practices are super helpful in managing anxiety, depression, focus, and cortisol levels.
Our breathing can influence our emotions. For example, if a woman sucks in her stomach to make it look flatter, the holding in of the stomach muscles interferes with breathing and creates shallow breathing, which increases tension and anxiety.
Diaphragmatic breathing (deep breathing) triggers body relaxation.
Your lungs are the best avenue for removing waste from the body. 70% of waste gets eliminated through your lungs as carbon dioxide. No wonder taking deep breaths in and out helps us to “let it all go!”
You Are Unique and Your Body Shows It!
The fact that only you carry around unique characteristics and features proves how special you are.
You have your very own set of DNA, which forms your genes, that are the blueprints determining everything about you!
The detailed patterns of your fingerprints are specific to you. Your fingerprints develop before birth and the swirls, loops, and arches keep their pattern throughout your entire life.
Your iris, (the colored part of your eye) has 256 characteristics unlike anyone else’s!
Your voice has a distinctive frequency (high and low), intensity (loud or soft), and sound qualities.
Whether you’ve heard these fascinating human body facts before or not, you can't help but say WOW each time you consider how invested your body is, purely working for you!
Do These Remarkable Human Body Facts Help You Appreciate Your Body?
To practice shifting negative body image thoughts towards gratitude, sometimes we have to simply realize how amazing our bodies are.
Setting aside “looks” and focusing on appreciating what your body does and how it works biologically can be one of the first steps towards a better relationship with your body.
Which one of these facts stuck out to you? What can you give your body credit for?