When was the last time you took inventory of your amazing body and it’s superpowers? There are so many things your body does and is capable of doing that you don’t think about, don’t understand, or might not even be aware of. At The 100 Year Lifestyle we often talk about the miracle that is your Innate Intelligence, and we’ve even talked about the value of your body in dollars. Today we’re going to look at our bodies even more closely as together we make 2022 the year of 100:100—living 100% for 100 years. Centenarians are showing us every day that it’s possible to live a long and full life until the day we die. Start on your 100:100 by getting a better understanding of the complex, precise, high performance machine that is your body.
Head to Toe
Your Brain:
While the brain-to-body size of humans is larger than any other mammal on Earth, it still only accounts for 2% of body weight. However, it uses 20% of the body’s energy. Why? Your brain has approximately 1 billion neurons or cells that transmit nerve impulses. Each neuron creates 1,000 connections to other neurons, totaling a trillion neurons. This means your brain can store approximately 2.5 petabytes, or 1 million gigabytes. Too big to imagine? If your brain’s storage capacity was digital video, it would equal 3 million hours of TV shows. That’s 300 years of nonstop video! But here’s the really amazing part, the brain continues to change, continues to make these connections, throughout our lives, regardless of our age! That’s amazing! That’s called 100:100!
Your DNA:
Don’t think about your DNA much? It’s a big deal. According to Dr. Barry Starr, Geneticist-in-Residence at The Tech Museum of Innovation:
Each human cell has around 6 feet of DNA. Let’s say each human has around 10 trillion cells (this is actually a low ball estimate). This would mean that each person has around 60 trillion feet or around 10 billion miles of DNA inside of them.
The Earth is about 93 million miles away from the sun. So your DNA could stretch to the sun and back 61 times. That is one person’s DNA.
That’s an amazing body!
Your Heart and Lungs:
Let’s get right to the heart of the matter. Your heart and lungs make everything happen. Together they make sure that every cell in your body (with the exception of the cornea) gets the oxygen-rich blood it needs to function properly. The system is called the Pulmonary Loop. The right side of the heart gets the oxygen-poor blood from the body and moves it to the lungs for cleaning and re-oxygenating. The left side of the heart then pumps the oxygenated blood back through your body—continuously. That means 24/7 for as long as you live.
Meanwhile, you breathe about 23,040 times each day. Your heart beats about 100,000 times each day, or about 35 million times each year. It pumps 1.5 gallons of blood every minute or over 2,000 gallons each day. That blood travels through the 60,000 miles of blood vessels in your body—enough to go around the world twice! Your amazing heart and lungs deserve the best care possible. Start with a healthy 100 Year Lifestyle diet, and don’t forget to exercise!
Your Hands, Feet, and Bones:
There are 206 bones in the human body. 54 of those bones are in the human wrist and hand. There are 26 bones in the human foot. At birth we have 300 bones, but as we grow some bones fuse together to form one bone. Amazing!
Your bones are composed of 31% water, yet are as strong as steel while being 50 times lighter. They are, pound for pound, 4 times stronger than concrete. Your leg bones are the strongest bones in your body, but your little finger is the home of 50% of your hand’s strength. The hardest bone in the human body is the jawbone.
More to Think About:
Still not convinced you are the most amazing, complex being? Here are a few other facts to think about:
- Each and every step you take requires the coordinated use of over 200 muscles.
- You have 2,000 taste buds in your mouth.
- Your eye can distinguish between approximately 10 million different colors.
- Your liver can regenerate itself.
- The fastest human sense is hearing. Your brain can recognize a sound 10X faster than the blink of an eye, or in as little as 0.05 seconds.
- It only takes 3 months in your mother’s womb to get your own unique set of fingerprints.
- Each human tongue is unique—just like fingerprints.
- During the course of your lifetime your mouth will produce enough saliva to fill two swimming pools.
- The total surface area of your lungs is about 80 square meters, or about the size of a tennis court.
- It requires the use of 17 muscles to smile, and 43 to frown. SMILE! You are amazing!
What’s the most important thing for you to know about your amazing body? How to take care of it. Now that you are aware of some of what your body does for you, support its innate ability to function and heal at the highest level by finding a chiropractor near you and investing in your longest, healthiest life possible, invest in chiropractic lifestyle care.
Make this the day you commit to 100:100—living at 100% for 100 years.
