25 Very Interesting Facts About The Human Body That They Definitely Won’t Teach You In Health Class

Recently, I came across two posts on the popular Ask Reddit page that were interesting, unique, and, honestly, pretty informative. In it, users Mindless_Reality_14 and alwaysclimbing5 asked, What are some lesser-known facts about the human body that would surprise the average person? And I thought that if I don’t know all this, surely most people don’t! So, I decided to share. Here are some of the most interesting and best answers:

1. “People can be divided by how their bodies respond to exercise. Your stomach either moves (popping from exercise) or shuts down, and your stomach refuses to empty, and exertion can throw you up.”

—in/vrosej10

2. “The bone that supports your eyeball, called the orbital floor, is paper thin and has a large hollow cavity on the opposite side, called the maxillary sinus. When you hit the eye hard, instead of your eyeball breaking itself, the bone below your eyeball, called the orbital floor, breaks if the pressure on your eye and prevents your eye from crossing. A beachball against a concrete wall, you can pop it, but if you’re a Try to crush against a styrofoam wall, the wall breaks, but the beachball is good, a wonderful evolutionary adaptation to protect your vision.

—in/ddsmd

3. “The navel and the area around it is the erogenous zone [they share] Nerve passage along the genitalia.”

—u/SabrinaDelgado

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4. “The diver’s reflex. When your face is submerged in cold water and you hold your breath it slows your heart rate and increases blood supply to vital organs like the heart and brain. This is useful to help increase the time you can hold your breath, but also to help manage PSVT (caused by the high character rate of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia).”

—u/UCantHearAnEnzyme

5. “Your brain is basically the main ‘sex organ’. Stress, lack of sleep, anxiety, [and] Feeling insecure or judged can be aggravating faster than anything physically ‘wrong’ with you, which is why comfort and feeling emotionally okay make such a big difference.”

—u/RipBackground204

6. “The fallopian tubes are not attached to the ovaries; they have small tendrils at the end and can flop around toward the ovary where the egg is released.”

“I had my tubes removed two years ago and asked my doctor what happens during ovulation; apparently, my eggs are kind of shot into my abdominal cavity and eventually reabsorbed by my body.”

—u/annekecaramin

7. “Natural redheads require an increased amount of anesthesia, due to some association with a mutated melanocortin-1 receptor. I’m a natural redhead myself, and have developed a fear of dentists because I realize what they’re doing! Finally, I had a problem that couldn’t be ignored, and I said ‘I should see you’ at my first appointment. Really redhead, huh?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘(Hygienist), get me 4x novocaine!’ I knew I had found my man, and he has been treating me ever since… Also ease my fear, because dental work is much less unpleasant before you actually start to hear.

—u/LollyHutzenKlutz

8. “Message from your middle-aged aunt: In perimenopause and menopause, women produce less of hormones like estrogen/estradiol and testosterone. This can cause the labia minora to fuse with the labia majora and is considered vaginal atrophy. This can lead to infections, UTIs, or a PH imbalance.”

“It also causes the mucous tissues throughout the body to become irritated and dry. It can also cause vaginal dryness/burning/itching, fine lines on the skin, and bad breath, surprisingly. Testosterone deficiency can also cause the clitoris to shrink, and in some women, disappear completely.

70-80% of postmenopausal women have vaginal atrophy. All of this can be prevented or reversed with proper hormone management and replacement. It’s best to start at the earliest signs of perimenopause, but vaginal tissue can be regenerated even after menopause with proper hormone management.”

—u/mariahmce

9. “You know the smell of rain, or disturbed soil? It’s a compound produced by bacteria called geosmin, and the human nose is extremely sensitive to it. We can smell it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion.”

—u/nonions

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10. “The testicles move on autopilot. The cremaster muscle constantly adjusts its height like an underlying thermostat—rising when you’re cold, stressed, or about to sneeze (yes, that last one is real).”

– For forecasting

—u/thecuriousdigest

—u/gianthooverpig

13. “Vaginal lubricant is mostly blood plasma.”

—u/Commercial-Yak-2964

“All bodily fluids are derived from blood, including breast milk.”

—u/Damn_Dog_Inappropriates

—u/Whoosier

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15. “Your heart rate increases about a minute before participating in exercise. This is called an anticipatory increase and occurs involuntarily.”

—u/wizzkidjay

16. “A small percentage of people are ‘super sleepers’ and are fully recharged after 2 to 4 hours of sleep each night. They can burn the candle at both ends!”

—u/lokensnarm

17. “There is zero evidence of pheromones in humans, despite everything going around.”

—u/atalantafugiens

18. “Apparently, yeast infections can be contagious.”

“As a dumb college kid, I didn’t know my gf had one (I choose to believe she didn’t either). We went to the ER because my dick wouldn’t stop shedding, almost like a croissant or something. Simple medicine and ointment did the trick, but FYI. 🫡”

—u/DruAL

“That’s a good PSA. I’m also freaking out about an unexpected case of French dick. The only treatment, according to Urgent Care, was OTC athlete’s foot cream.”

—u/AcuteMtnSalsa

19. “Orgasm burns calories (but not that many). Technically, you’re expending some energy, but don’t leave the gym just yet. Think a few jumping jacks, not a full workout.”

—u/Massive_Debt_6102

20. “Some people will cough if they put something in one ear, a very small percentage will cough if they put something in the other ear. This is called Arnold’s ear-cuff reflex.”

—u/ArtEclectic

21. “Out of curiosity, I [looked up] Why is there a head on the male penis? This is because it acts like a rubber tip on the plunger of a syringe. In the same way that you can remove fluid with a syringe, during sexual intercourse, the penis has the ability to expel… Sperm that has been deposited in the vagina by a different man increases the chances of impregnating a woman.”

CW

—u/One-Ball-78

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—u/Hadith

23. “Some people are born with extra ribs called cervical ribs that grow from the C7 vertebra of the neck. This is a unique and rare mutation that many people don’t know about, although it can also cause thoracic outlet syndrome, where pressure can cause pain in the nerves and arms. In some rare cases, if you’re really unlucky, gangrene can occur if left untreated.”

—u/winterf19

24. “Some people sneeze as a reflex when they’re excited. It doesn’t happen every time but if it happens to you or you learn to recognize it in your partner, then you’ll know.

—u/ViceNSpice

25. And finally: “Eye immune privilege: Your immune system doesn’t know your eye exists. There’s a chance that if you get an eye injury or an infection near your eye, the immune system will think your eye is a foreign body, and you’ll go blind.”

—u/kubrickfan

Is there a body-related tidbit of information you’d love to share with people to shock them? Let us know in the comments below.

Please note that some responses may have been edited for length/clarity.

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