13 Creepy Facts About The Inside Of Your Body To Gross You Out
What’s up with your body? How does it feel? Do you know the kind of things happening inside your body right now? While the processes that your body is going through as your read this aren’t exactly unspeakable, they are kind of gross. The creepy things about your body are abundant, and apply to every organ, internal and external. If you’ve ever stood in front of a full-length mirror and wondered what was happening under your skin, get ready to find out. But be warned, you’re going to be at least a little grossed out.
The weird things that happen in your body range from predictably disgusting things like waste discharge, to the nightmare-inducing information that when you sleep your body is in constant conflict with itself to keep you alive. The human body is a vast ecosystem of complicated organs and processes that scientists are still trying to understand. Aside from all the ways our bodies have to pump and gurgle to keep us alive, there are just some simple gross facts about what we are.
Your Brain Is Squishy And Soft Like Butter
If you're like most people, you probably think that a brain feels like a handful of wet clay, or maybe a bunch of wet gummy bears stuck together. That actually couldn't be further from the truth. Your brain is actually a super squishy mass of matter that's more tender than "most of the meat you would see in a market." You're basically walking around with a big glob of warm butter jammed into your skull, so be careful with it.
Your Fingernails Are Always Growing
You've been living with your fingernails long enough that you're used to their behavior. They come, they go, and they're always growing - those little clear bones that are squeezing themselves out of your body right this very second. Your fingernails grow about one-tenth of an inch a month.
Your Guts Are Full Of Bacteria
Sorry to break this to you, but your intestines are full of microbial bacteria that begin growing about two years after your birth. Most of the bacteria, or gut flora, ferments dietary fiber into short-chain fatty acids that provide energy for your colonic cells and other fun parts of your body. And that's not all! If you were to magically zap all of the intestinal bacteria out of your body, it would be like losing an internal organ and you would stop metabolizing vitamins B and K. The next time you're having a really good digestion day remember to thank your gut flora.
You're Covered In Dead Skin
You know that giant organ that's covering all the bones and goo that make you you? Skin, flesh, human orange peel, whatever you want to call it. By the time you see it, it's already dead or dying and falling away from you like snow from winter clouds. We shed 8.8 pounds of skin every year.
Your Blood Settles After You Pass
What's up with blood, right? It pumps out of our hearts and flows through us, but what happens to it all when we pass? When our hearts stop beating and our lungs take their last breaths, our blood begins hypostasis, or suggillation. That's when your blood settles in the lower portion of the body, causing a purplish red discoloration of the skin.
Your Bones Are Always Growing
Even though most of your body's bone growth stops after puberty, that doesn't mean the fun has to stop when you're an adult. All your bones are constantly recycling themselves in order to remain nice and sturdy for your morning jog.
According to Dr. Peter Selby, an osteoporosis expert based at Manchester Royal Infirmary, your bones are about 10 years old, depending on where they are in their bone cycle. Old bone is broken down by cells called osteoclasts and replaced by bone-building cells known as osteoblasts, and when you hit middle age your bones begin to thin out; that's when osteoporosis sets in.