Ladies! Take a minute to think about just how awesome your body is. No, not just the external appearance but every intricate aspect of it that keeps you up and about, all day, everyday. While we might just be aware of how different we are from our male counterparts, I want to throw light on some super cool and strange facts about women's bodies that makes you and I all the more cooler.
Following a lot of fun research, I have collated the following interesting facts about 'female body'! Do let me know in the comments which of these you already knew.
We are twice as likely to suffer from headaches compared to men
The most common type of headache is the tension headache, which accounts for more than 80% of all headaches suffered by men and women. Tension-type headaches are usually felt on both sides of the head and can last between 30 minutes and 24 hours. As a woman, it is highly likely that you have suffered from this type of headache at least once. Hormonal changes could be one of the reasons for this, according to studies conducted at John Hopkins University. Fluctuation in the levels of estrogen could result in headaches as well which happens during different hormonal events including menstruation. Oh well.
We blink almost twice as much as men
Well, not a very useful fact par se, but indeed an interesting one. According to this study published in the Journal of British College of Ophthalmic Opticians, women blink almost twice as many times as men do. Interestingly, older women blinked way more frequently compared to younger women. The cohort that blinked the least was older men. Do let me know in the comments if you consciously observed if this is true. There are so many facts about women's body specialties out there and I am yet to test them all for myself.
Our ovaries produce thousands of eggs during our lifetime
The average woman has about 300,000 eggs in her ovaries at birth, and as she ages, that number starts to drop. By the time you're 30 years old, you only have about 20,000 eggs left. After that, it's a steady decline until menopause—when your ovaries stop producing eggs altogether. What happens to all these eggs, you ask me. Do they just disappear? Nope! Your body actually gets rid of them naturally through a process called atresia. When an egg is released during ovulation and is not fertilized by sperm, it dissolves and is absorbed back into your body through the lining of your uterus.
Recovery post workouts takes longer for us
This has a lot to do with the level of muscle mass you have in your body, and, you guessed it: hormones. When we work out, our bodies break down muscle tissue and produce lactic acid. This process is called "catabolism," which means that our bodies are breaking down rather than building up. And catabolism is what causes muscle soreness after a workout.
Well, women take longer than men to recover from catabolism, which means they tend to feel sorer after a workout than men do. Testosterone is responsible for protecting the muscles from damage during exercise, which means that men are better able to work out intensely without feeling as much pain as women do. This is why it is so important to give yourself enough recovery time. If you're working out hard and you're not giving your body time to rest and recover, then you won't be able to get the most out of your workouts—or even worse, you could end up hurting yourself!
We have twice as many pain receptors as men do
Well, this means that we women are way more sensitive to pain compared to men. But hey, this is not all that bad (though it mostly is, because just whyyy). But it's not all that bad. Because our bodies are built to handle traumatic events like pregnancy, childbirth and more, our pain tolerance is also higher than men. This does not mean that you and I don't feel pain. We just deal with it so much better. Interestingly, we women also have a lower threshold for pain and are more sensitive to touch, pressure and temperature.
We can see more colors compared to men
Yay, a truly fun fact! From a very young age, girls are able to distinguish between different shades of color better than boys. In addition, women tend to have a higher sensitivity to contrast and brightness levels than men. But why is this the case? It has a lot to do with the density of cone cells in our eyes, which is responsible for us being able to view and distinguish colors. We women are also able to distinguish different shades of colors better than men. Next time your husband tells you both those lipsticks look the same, you know it's not his fault. You just know better ;)
We are better at multitasking than men
I could not go on about interesting facts about the female body and ignore just how cool our brains are. Men are better at focusing on one task at a time, while women are better at switching between tasks and thinking about several things at once. Some studies have shown that women have the ability to focus on multiple tasks at once, while still maintaining an awareness of our surroundings. One study showed that women are better able to focus on a task while also monitoring their environment for potential threats or changes. This is an evolutionary trait known as hypervigilance, which may have developed as a means of protection against potential predators.
We are better at detecting scents
Not only are we better at detecting scents, we apparently also are able to remember scents better. This includes the ability to smell things like a gas leak or smoke. The olfactory bulb in the brain is responsible for enabling better smell processing and women have more neurons in this area compared to men. Also, there happen to be more receptors to detect these scents on our noses. Thanks to all these wonderful features, we women are able to detect scents even when the concentration of the odor-causing agent is relatively low.
Our boobies are not equal in size
Sad as it may seem, perfectly symmetrical boobs simply do not naturally exist. One boob is always going to be bigger than the other, shaped differently or just appears slightly different and you cannot pinpoint as to why. Our boobs generally match in size when we are younger, but with age, they just grow different. It is definitely not a big deal whatsoever because it is pretty much the same for everyone of us.
We are better at remembering faces
Ever wondered why your dad kept forgetting your friends' names despite meeting them almost every week but your mom knew them just too well? Now you know. It may seem like a small thing, but being able to recognize faces can have a big impact on your life. The ability to recognize and identify faces is a feature of the fusiform gyrus (part of the brain situated in an area called the temporal lobe).We women have more neurons in this area, and perhaps a stronger networking between the two hemispheres of our brain. In other words, our brains are wired differently, and this works out pretty well for us.
There you go! All the quirky, fun facts about women's body and mind that you might, or might have not known. Have more such fun facts? Let me know by commenting below!
