24 Hours in the Life of Your Body
When
our weary stressed heads hit the pillow at night most of us imagine it's a time
for both body and mind to switch off and take a well earned rest. Far
from it. Here's a short guide to what's happening in your hardworking
body during an average Yuwie blogging day.
Asleep or awake, our amazing bodies continue working to carry out the thousands and thousands of chemical processes that are essential to our health and well being. The rhythmic surge of hormones (easy Tiger!), the rise and fall in body temperature, the activity of digestive processes, state of alertness, renewal of cells (botox anyone?), removal of waste products (yuk!) - all run to extraordinary, unceasing 24-hour cycle, orchestrated by a region of our brain called the hypothalamus.
[ 7 am ]If you feel a bit dizzy as you step out of bed your blood pressure could still be a little on the low side. Between 6 am and 7 am blood pressure increases dramatically to meet the demands of the day.
Early morning is the peak time for heart attacks, with the hours between 7 am and 9 am being the most risky. So, don't open that credit card bill first thing!! The heart will be beating at its rest rate of around 70 beats per minute when you wake. Once you're up and about this increases to around 78 beats per minute. During intense, athletic exercise it can rise to 200 beats a minute. The heart is only the size of a clenched fist, but in just one minute your entire blood supply - around 8 pints - passes through it.
[ 7.30 am ] Our immune system is at its lowest ebb during the first hour after waking and your chance of catching a cold is highest at breakfast time. So no goodbye kisses for sniffing spouses or kids - a hug will have to do.
Just the thought of yummie food is enough to spur your stomach and intestines into a rumble of activity. The anticipation, sight and smell of food - you haven't seen my cooking - triggers the production of small amounts of acid in preparation for digestion. Once food arrives, it's churned up with a mixture of gastric juices, digestive enzymes and acids until it becomes a liquid mush.
The stomach contracts rhythmically every 20 seconds or so. When it's empty, these contractions will be felt as hunger pangs. Easily digested foods are squirted through quite quickly into the small intestine in small amounts. There, enzymes from the pancreas and bile from the gall bladder continue the digestive process. Tougher stuff, such as pips, seeds and those indistructable mlm health pills take longer - up to four hours. The normal time taken for food to pass through the entire digestive system, is on average, 12-48 hours.
[ 8.30 am ] Getting up and eating breakfast sends a wake-up call to the colon, which begins a co-ordinated set of muscular contractions to drive the contents of the bowel towards the rectum. The bowel muscle never rests, short sections contract gently every few seconds without us being aware of it.
[ 10 am ] Now is the time to tackle those demanding mental tasks or make important decisions. Your brain switches into high gear for its three most active hours of the day. Although only the size of a grapefruit and weighing just three pounds, your brain consumes up to a third of the body's energy - depending on how hard you work it. Messages from the brain travel along the spinal cord at about 268 miles per hour - and no speed cameras!
[ 12 pm ]The production of the hormone adrenaline peaks around now. It primes the brain to work better and react faster - so take advantage of your quick-thinking skills to score some brownie points before lunch. At any moment the brain is processing about 100 million pieces of information.
[ 1 pm ] Have a large glass of water with lunch - your kidneys will thank you for it. These master chemists of the body, found in the lower back area, work unceasingly to filter impurities from the blood and keep our fluid, mineral and salt balance correct. About 400 gallons (1,800 litres) of blood pass through the kidneys each day. The blood is filtered through 50 miles (80km) of tubules with more than half-a-million tiny capillaries at their ends.
[ 2 pm ] Afternoon apathy often strikes around 2pm time- tell me about it! A 20 minute cat nap can help improve alertness and concentration, especially if your brain has to cope with more hours of repetitive work - "thanks for the add!" Alternatively, a brisk walk at lunch-time will deliver an oxygen boost and fire up flagging energy levels ...or of course you can cheat and buy my energy product! Hint. Hint.
At rest, we breathe in and out about ten litres of air a minute; when we're exercising this more than doubles. The lungs are covered with 375 million tiny cells, called alveoli, which keep the blood and hence all the body's cells supplied with oxygen. Just one drop of blood contains five million red blood cells with the pigment haemoglobin which carries oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues.
[ 4 pm ]The body reaches its highest temperature of the day around now. There's a 2 F difference between 4pm and 4am, when your temperature is at its lowest. Cardiovascular efficiency and muscle strength are at their peak now, so it's a good time to exercise if you can - pass me that remote! Most athletic world records are set in late afternoon and early evening. Arthritis sufferers generally find their pain and stiffness least troublesome at this time.
[ 5 pm ]Forget candlelit dinners if you want to conceive. Both men and women are at their most fertile at this time of the day. Men have 17 million more mobile sperm swimming around in late afternoon than in the morning. Between 3pm and 7pm is also the peak time for ovulation. Baby girls are born with around 700,000 ova, their entire lifetime's supply.
[ 7 pm ] Once you've eaten dinner, the liver plays a big part in the absorption and digestion of the fats it contains. The liver works non-stop day and night to carry out more than 500 different chemical processes. It regulates our metabolism, removes waste products and maintains the correct level of blood sugar and protein-building amino acids in the bloodstream. Alcohol is also broken down by the liver. If you've had a glass of wine with dinner, the liver will take more than an hour to process it.
[ 9 pm ] Many of the body's hormone levels begin to fall around now, so the body may become more sensitive to allergens. Asthma sufferers may have more attacks of wheezing and sneezing at night. The digestive system processes begin to shut down while secretion of the hormone melatonin, which tells the brain to switch off and sleep, rises as core body temperature falls in preparation for bedtime.
[ 11 pm ]A shower before you retire will wash away several thousand of the 30,000 skin cells you loose each day. Skin cells are constantly shed and renewed in an approximately 28-day cycle as new cells move up from the lower layers of the skin. An adult's skin covers about 20 sq ft (1.86 sq meters) and has around 1,300 nerve-cell receptors per square inch. The skin protects us from harmful germs, helps to regulate temperature and even eliminates some of the body's wastes.
[ Midnight ]You may be asleep (Yuwieholics ain't!), but your body has not shut down. Your heart, the hardest working muscle in the body, never rests for a second. No man-made pump can match it for sheer durability. It beats an average 100,000 times in a day and pumps about 2,000 gallons (9,000 litres) of blood. Although your breathing, heart rate and blood pressure have dropped, the organs nevertheless continue their virtual functions.
[ 2 am ]If you went to sleep at 11pm, you'll probably be in deep REM (rapid eye movement) sleep by now. During this stage of dreaming sleep, blood flow to the brain increases, enabling the brain to repair itself. The muscles are deeply relaxed so we're less likely to throw ourselves out of bed if involved in a high-speed nocturnal escape from vampires!
During the non-REM sleep stage, growth hormone is released, the muscles get more blood supply and blood cells and body tissues - especially skin - are rebuilt. One reason why we look a lot fresher after a good nights sleep - who told you that?
[ 3 am ] During the night, production of urine and digestive secretions is slowed right down. Saliva output is cut, giving the millions of plaque forming bacteria in your mouth a perfect opportunity to multiply like mad - the reason why we wake in the morning with bad breath and furry teeth. A glass of water first thing will protect your nearest and dearest from the worst as they wake.
[ 5 am]Your body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and secretion of hormones such as adrenaline and corticosteroids are at their very lowest now. This is the hardest time of the night for "graveyard shift" workers to stay awake and the hour they're most prone to have accidents or make slips.
Studies have shown that shift workers are more prone to digestive disorders, fertility problems, infections, and heart trouble, at least partly due to constantly working against their body's natural rhythmic cycle.
[ 6 am ]An hour before you wake up the body begins to rouse itself, boosting blood pressure, hormone production, temperature and heart and breathing rate gently bring you to a more alert state to face the day.
Hummm... it's nearly time to get up and go check your Apsense stats! ;o)
p.s. If you still need more potassium, healthy Act energy drink contains 450mg.
Asleep or awake, our amazing bodies continue working to carry out the thousands and thousands of chemical processes that are essential to our health and well being. The rhythmic surge of hormones (easy Tiger!), the rise and fall in body temperature, the activity of digestive processes, state of alertness, renewal of cells (botox anyone?), removal of waste products (yuk!) - all run to extraordinary, unceasing 24-hour cycle, orchestrated by a region of our brain called the hypothalamus.
Wakey! Wakey! Rise and Shine!
[ 7 am ]If you feel a bit dizzy as you step out of bed your blood pressure could still be a little on the low side. Between 6 am and 7 am blood pressure increases dramatically to meet the demands of the day.
Early morning is the peak time for heart attacks, with the hours between 7 am and 9 am being the most risky. So, don't open that credit card bill first thing!! The heart will be beating at its rest rate of around 70 beats per minute when you wake. Once you're up and about this increases to around 78 beats per minute. During intense, athletic exercise it can rise to 200 beats a minute. The heart is only the size of a clenched fist, but in just one minute your entire blood supply - around 8 pints - passes through it.
[ 7.30 am ] Our immune system is at its lowest ebb during the first hour after waking and your chance of catching a cold is highest at breakfast time. So no goodbye kisses for sniffing spouses or kids - a hug will have to do.
Just the thought of yummie food is enough to spur your stomach and intestines into a rumble of activity. The anticipation, sight and smell of food - you haven't seen my cooking - triggers the production of small amounts of acid in preparation for digestion. Once food arrives, it's churned up with a mixture of gastric juices, digestive enzymes and acids until it becomes a liquid mush.
The stomach contracts rhythmically every 20 seconds or so. When it's empty, these contractions will be felt as hunger pangs. Easily digested foods are squirted through quite quickly into the small intestine in small amounts. There, enzymes from the pancreas and bile from the gall bladder continue the digestive process. Tougher stuff, such as pips, seeds and those indistructable mlm health pills take longer - up to four hours. The normal time taken for food to pass through the entire digestive system, is on average, 12-48 hours.
[ 8.30 am ] Getting up and eating breakfast sends a wake-up call to the colon, which begins a co-ordinated set of muscular contractions to drive the contents of the bowel towards the rectum. The bowel muscle never rests, short sections contract gently every few seconds without us being aware of it.
[ 10 am ] Now is the time to tackle those demanding mental tasks or make important decisions. Your brain switches into high gear for its three most active hours of the day. Although only the size of a grapefruit and weighing just three pounds, your brain consumes up to a third of the body's energy - depending on how hard you work it. Messages from the brain travel along the spinal cord at about 268 miles per hour - and no speed cameras!
[ 12 pm ]The production of the hormone adrenaline peaks around now. It primes the brain to work better and react faster - so take advantage of your quick-thinking skills to score some brownie points before lunch. At any moment the brain is processing about 100 million pieces of information.
[ 1 pm ] Have a large glass of water with lunch - your kidneys will thank you for it. These master chemists of the body, found in the lower back area, work unceasingly to filter impurities from the blood and keep our fluid, mineral and salt balance correct. About 400 gallons (1,800 litres) of blood pass through the kidneys each day. The blood is filtered through 50 miles (80km) of tubules with more than half-a-million tiny capillaries at their ends.
[ 2 pm ] Afternoon apathy often strikes around 2pm time- tell me about it! A 20 minute cat nap can help improve alertness and concentration, especially if your brain has to cope with more hours of repetitive work - "thanks for the add!" Alternatively, a brisk walk at lunch-time will deliver an oxygen boost and fire up flagging energy levels ...or of course you can cheat and buy my energy product! Hint. Hint.
At rest, we breathe in and out about ten litres of air a minute; when we're exercising this more than doubles. The lungs are covered with 375 million tiny cells, called alveoli, which keep the blood and hence all the body's cells supplied with oxygen. Just one drop of blood contains five million red blood cells with the pigment haemoglobin which carries oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues.
[ 4 pm ]The body reaches its highest temperature of the day around now. There's a 2 F difference between 4pm and 4am, when your temperature is at its lowest. Cardiovascular efficiency and muscle strength are at their peak now, so it's a good time to exercise if you can - pass me that remote! Most athletic world records are set in late afternoon and early evening. Arthritis sufferers generally find their pain and stiffness least troublesome at this time.
[ 5 pm ]Forget candlelit dinners if you want to conceive. Both men and women are at their most fertile at this time of the day. Men have 17 million more mobile sperm swimming around in late afternoon than in the morning. Between 3pm and 7pm is also the peak time for ovulation. Baby girls are born with around 700,000 ova, their entire lifetime's supply.
[ 7 pm ] Once you've eaten dinner, the liver plays a big part in the absorption and digestion of the fats it contains. The liver works non-stop day and night to carry out more than 500 different chemical processes. It regulates our metabolism, removes waste products and maintains the correct level of blood sugar and protein-building amino acids in the bloodstream. Alcohol is also broken down by the liver. If you've had a glass of wine with dinner, the liver will take more than an hour to process it.
[ 9 pm ] Many of the body's hormone levels begin to fall around now, so the body may become more sensitive to allergens. Asthma sufferers may have more attacks of wheezing and sneezing at night. The digestive system processes begin to shut down while secretion of the hormone melatonin, which tells the brain to switch off and sleep, rises as core body temperature falls in preparation for bedtime.
[ 11 pm ]A shower before you retire will wash away several thousand of the 30,000 skin cells you loose each day. Skin cells are constantly shed and renewed in an approximately 28-day cycle as new cells move up from the lower layers of the skin. An adult's skin covers about 20 sq ft (1.86 sq meters) and has around 1,300 nerve-cell receptors per square inch. The skin protects us from harmful germs, helps to regulate temperature and even eliminates some of the body's wastes.
[ Midnight ]You may be asleep (Yuwieholics ain't!), but your body has not shut down. Your heart, the hardest working muscle in the body, never rests for a second. No man-made pump can match it for sheer durability. It beats an average 100,000 times in a day and pumps about 2,000 gallons (9,000 litres) of blood. Although your breathing, heart rate and blood pressure have dropped, the organs nevertheless continue their virtual functions.
[ 2 am ]If you went to sleep at 11pm, you'll probably be in deep REM (rapid eye movement) sleep by now. During this stage of dreaming sleep, blood flow to the brain increases, enabling the brain to repair itself. The muscles are deeply relaxed so we're less likely to throw ourselves out of bed if involved in a high-speed nocturnal escape from vampires!
During the non-REM sleep stage, growth hormone is released, the muscles get more blood supply and blood cells and body tissues - especially skin - are rebuilt. One reason why we look a lot fresher after a good nights sleep - who told you that?
[ 3 am ] During the night, production of urine and digestive secretions is slowed right down. Saliva output is cut, giving the millions of plaque forming bacteria in your mouth a perfect opportunity to multiply like mad - the reason why we wake in the morning with bad breath and furry teeth. A glass of water first thing will protect your nearest and dearest from the worst as they wake.
[ 5 am]Your body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and secretion of hormones such as adrenaline and corticosteroids are at their very lowest now. This is the hardest time of the night for "graveyard shift" workers to stay awake and the hour they're most prone to have accidents or make slips.
Studies have shown that shift workers are more prone to digestive disorders, fertility problems, infections, and heart trouble, at least partly due to constantly working against their body's natural rhythmic cycle.
[ 6 am ]An hour before you wake up the body begins to rouse itself, boosting blood pressure, hormone production, temperature and heart and breathing rate gently bring you to a more alert state to face the day.
Hummm... it's nearly time to get up and go check your Apsense stats! ;o)
p.s. If you still need more potassium, healthy Act energy drink contains 450mg.
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Comments (3)
Rebecca Beasley8
Consultant, Web Designer, Script Set Up
Amazing. We have the most miraculous bodies.
Jenny Stewart11
Hi there,
Just reading all that has exhausted me. Now i know why I get so tired - doesnt that body ever get any rest! All that activity 24/71 No wonder we age.
Well it looks as if it is now past my skin shedding time - so I will bid you a good night and go off and see if I can get some REMs
Saludos
Jenny