Body Science
Muscular tissues are formed of elongated cells called muscle fibers. They use ATP, a chemical compound that is produced through cellular respiration (which we will likely cover at a later date in detail), to generate force. Muscular tissue produces movements, maintains posture, generates heat and provides protection. We have three different types of muscular tissue in our bodies, skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Read more “Muscle”
Body Science
Culturally, we sensationalize fat. Fat’s bad. Fat’s good. There’s skinny fat, and there’s just fat, fat. There are countless fat-reducing diets and there is a sociological push to embrace ones own fat. We shouldn’t comment on persons fat, while at times a doctor must in order to offer the best possible care. But a doctor who prescribes fat reduction is often considered cruel and/or cold – sometimes even lazy, because it seems that that’s the only answer he or she will give no matter what the person’s complaint or ailment. And far too many of us are obsessed with fat. Even the thinnest or most fit of us will see fat in the mirror and sleep with a scale under our bed. Read more “Fat (Adipose)”
Body Science
A calorie is actually a unit of measurement, sort of like a pound measures weight or centimeter measures length. What calories measure are the units of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a single gram or a kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius. If calorie is written with a lowercase ‘c’ as in ‘cal.’ the unit measured is 1 gram of water. If calorie is written with an uppercase ‘C’ as in ‘Cal.’ the unit measured is a kilogram of water. Read more “Things to know about calories & Calories”
Body Science
Systematically applying mechanical stress to your bones increases the strength of them. On a cellular level, your bone tissue adapts to the mechanical stresses you place on them by increasing the mineral salt deposits in them and through producing collagen fibers. Removing mechanical stress weakens bony tissue though the exact opposite processes. Read more “Exercise & Bone Growth”
Body Science
The only bad posture is one you stay in for too long. We are dynamic beings and our bodies adapt to the forces we place on them. The health and fitness community has spent way too much time blaming poor posture for every ache and pain we experience, when in fact posture or structural abnormalities are common, and it is not abnormal at all to see what we qualify as poor posture in perfectly healthy people who have no complaints about pain or discomfort. Your bony structure at birth was not the same as the bony structure of the guy next to you. Add to that the fact that the forces you have placed on your body throughout your lifetime of physical activities or inactivity are unique to you, and your body has adapted to be strong and robust where you have taught it to be, and it means that you may look a little different from your best friends or family members. Remember that bones are living tissues, forever breaking down and rebuilding themselves; adapting to be your very own unique skeleton. Read more “Posture”
Body Science
Bone provides support and protection to your body. It produces blood cells, and stores both minerals and triglycerides. We like to think of our bones as hard, static, solid, unmoving or unchanging pieces to our skeleton. But believe it or not, your living bone tissue is forever growing, remodeling and repairing itself (or in other words, breaking itself down and building itself back up). It is not stagnant or static at all, but is forever changing inside your body. Read more “Bone”
Body Science
Blood
Your blood is a fluid connective tissue. Its plasma is combined mostly of water with a wide variety of dissolved substances including nutrients, wastes, enzymes, plasma proteins, hormones, respiratory gases and ions. It also contains red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Red blood cells transport oxygen from the lungs to body cells, while removing carbon dioxide from cells to the lungs for exhalation. Blood carries nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract, and hormones from the endocrine cells to other body cells. Blood also transports heat and waste products to various organs for elimination. White blood cells and platelets are some of the building blocks of your immune system, aiding in defense against foreign bodies (viruses and bacteria, for example), and tissue repair. Blood acts to protect by clotting, which creates a barrier against excessive loss from the cardiovascular system after injury, and white blood cells are involved in immune responses. These immune responses include injury recovery, allergy response, and phagocytosis (or consumption and destruction of dead cells and other noxious substances). In addition, several blood proteins like antibodies, act to protect us against disease in a variety of ways. Read more “Blood, Cardiovascular System & Obesity”
Body Science
Types of Tissues
It wasn’t until I was well into an anatomy & physiology class in college that I gave any thought to what was actually under my skin. It just wasn’t something I’d just casually think about. And as such, sayings like, “you are what you eat,” though familiar, had no real meaning to me.
The human body is made up of tissues, which are made up of cells, which are made up of molecules formed by organic chemical compounds. What I’m saying is you are basically a big bag of chemical molecules bundled together into cells that create tissues and organs. Read more “You are Basically a Big Bag of Chemical Molecules”