For as long as human beings have existed, we have been telling stories about where we come from.
Whether it was the fables of Aesop or old Greek myths, before science our origins were a mystery. Although, at times we did some pretty weird stuff to our bodies, like these 30 bizarre hygiene habits.
It's no surprise that we invented fantastical stories about how we came to be — our bodies seem so miraculous. The human body can heal itself. It can swim. It can climb. It can articulate language. It has memory and self-awareness.
Without any explanation, humans — and many creatures — seem more like the characters of fantasy novels than ordinary people.
However, with a little more context, how those abilities work becomes all the more clear. On a cellular and molecular level, our body functions like a well-oiled machine.
Some of those functions that keep us alive are a little, um, weird. It's easy to take for granted the things our bodies have to do when we don't have to see or think about them.
The 15 bodily facts on this list are pretty enlightening and totally weird.
SHARE if some of these facts made you feel odd.
1. Most people produce enough saliva to fill two swimming pools in their lifetime.
2. Your feet can produce more than a pint of sweat in a single day.
3. The most common dreams among pregnant women in their first trimester are about frogs, worms, and potted plants.
4. The brain uses the same amount of power as a 10w light bulb.
5. You have as many hairs per square inch on your body as a chimpanzee.
6. Roughly 32 million bacteria live on your skin right now!
7. When you kiss someone, you exchange about 40,000 parasites and 250 kinds of bacteria.
8. You shed 600,000 particles of dead skin in one hour!
9. There are tiny mites that live in your eyelashes.
10. The ears and nose never stop growing, but your eyes remain the same size your entire life.
11. Humans are the only animals that cry as an emotional response.
12. You grow an entirely new stomach lining every 3-4 days. If you don't, your stomach acids will digest your stomach — a process which typically transpires three days after death.
13. You don't develop fingerprints until you're about 3 months old.
14. The fastest-growing fingernail is the middle finger.
15. By the age of 60, one loses about half of their tastebuds.
SHARE if you see yourself differently after reading this list!
