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The active ingredient in all chillies is a chemical called capsaicin. When you ingest capsaicin, the body releases endorphins – it’s not at all clear why – and that provides us with a literally warm glow of pleasure.
Incidentally, we have pain detectors not only in the mouth, but also in the eyes, anus and vagina, which is why spicy foods can cause discomfort there.
Clotting doesn’t work in the principal arteries because the flow of blood is too fierce; any clot would be swept away, which is why major bleeds must be stopped with the pressure of a tourniquet.
Although insulin has transformed the lives of millions of diabetics, it is not a perfect solution. For one thing, it cannot be given orally because it is broken down in the gut
Leptin was produced not in an endocrine gland but in fat cells.
Oxytocin, to take one example, is well known for its role in generating feelings of attachment and affection – it is sometimes called ‘the hug hormone’
In males, testosterone is produced mostly by the testes, with a little from the adrenal glands, and does three things: it makes a man fertile, it endows him with virile attributes like a deep voice and the need to shave, and it profoundly influences his behaviour, giving him not only his sex drive but also a taste for risk and aggression.
Altogether every day the pancreas produces over a litre of pancreatic juice,
Typically about 70 per cent of a bone is inorganic material and 30 per cent organic. The most fundamental element of bone is collagen. It is the most abundant protein in the body – 40 per cent of all your proteins are collagens – and it is very adaptable.
A chimpanzee uses four times as much energy to move around at ground level as does a human.
Because protecting us from invasion is such a limitless challenge, the immune system sometimes makes mistakes and launches an attack on innocent cells.
at a young age the body learns what is self – what not to attack.
sneeze droplets can travel up to eight metres and drift in suspension in the air for ten minutes before gently settling on to nearby surfaces.
It is a curious fact that we break down all the proteins we consume in order to reassemble them into new proteins, rather as if they were Lego toys.
It’s possible for doctors to go through medical school without being taught nutrition.
One of the most extraordinary features of early life is that nursing mothers produce over 200 kinds of complex sugars
A successful virus is one that doesn’t kill too well and can circulate widely.
It is sometimes said, only partly in jest, that the worst health initiative in history was the invention of agriculture.
Rare diseases are defined as diseases that afflict no more than one person in two thousand,
For 90 per cent of rare diseases there are no effective treatments at all.
‘Cancer is the price we pay for evolution. If our cells couldn’t mutate we would never get cancer, but we also couldn’t evolve.
As one toxicologist has put it, ‘The biochemical price of breathing is ageing.’
