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The book Your Body: The Missing Manual: The Missing Manual (The book you should have been born with) by Matthew MacDonald is a most insightful and useful journey in the world of modern medicine and human health. What, exactly, do you know about your body? Do you know how your immune system works? Or what your pancreas does? Or the myriad -- and often simple -- ways you can improve the way your body functions?
This full-color, visually rich guide answers these questions and more. Matthew MacDonald, noted author of Your Brain: The Missing Manual, takes you on a fascinating tour of your body from the outside in, beginning with your skin and progressing to your vital organs. You'll look at the quirks, curiosities, and shortcomings we've all learned to live with, and pick up just enough biology to understand how your body works. You'll learn:
That you shed skin more frequently than snakes do
Why the number of fat cells you have rarely changes, no matter how much you diet or exercise -- they simply get bigger or smaller
How you can measure and control fat
That your hair is made from the same stuff as horses' hooves
That you use only a small amount of the oxygen you inhale
Why blood pressure is a more important health measure than heart rate -- with four ways to lower dangerously high blood pressure
Why our bodies crave foods that make us fat
How to use heart rate to shape an optimal workout session -- one that's neither too easy nor too strenuous
Why a tongue with just half a dozen taste buds can identify thousands of flavors
Why bacteria in your gut outnumbers cells in your body -- and what function they serve
Why we age, and why we can't turn back the clock
What happens to your body in the minutes after you die
Rather than dumbed-down self-help or dense medical text, Your Body: The Missing Manual is entertaining and packed with information you can use. It's a book that may well change your life.
You know it intimately. Every morning, you climb out of bed with it and give it a good, hard look in the mirror. You scrub it down with soap, fill it up with calories, and occasionally walk it around the block for some fresh air. Most of the time, it’s as comfortable as an old pair of jeans. But occasionally, particularly when something goes wrong, you realize just how much you depend on the nearly miraculous abilities of your human body.
Your body is a very odd place. It’s at once mind-bogglingly complex, supremely adaptable, and hopelessly quirky. Often, it amazes. (For example, in the time you’ve spent reading this introduction, your body has created several million new cells to replace those that have just popped off.) Other times, it’s somewhat less impressive. (Just try laughing while drinking a glass of milk.) But whether it’s dazzling or disappointing, the human body ranks as the most remarkable machine you’ll ever operate.
In this book, you’ll learn how your body works, and how you can keep it in tip-top shape. You’ll discover how to spot potential problems, and you’ll learn to love—or at least live with—its charming and not-so-charming oddities. Along the way, you’ll solve a few mysteries. You’ll see why we use the same hardware to talk, eat, and kiss. You’ll meet the millions of uninvited guests that share your body with you. You’ll also learn why at least one study suggests that you’d be better off preparing dinner on a toilet seat rather than on an average kitchen cutting board (page 215). You’ll face the ravages of aging, confront the challenges of dieting, explore the riddles of diseases
like cancer, and learn what happens when you die. (Unfortunately, this book can’t tell you much about what goes down after that.) We think you’ll enjoy the tour. After all, you’ll be spending a lot of time in your body. Why not get better acquainted?
About This Book
This book provides a practical look at how to get the most out of your body. What makes this book different from the average self-help guide is the fact that it’s grounded in modern-day biology—that means hard-core sciences like biochemistry and genetics.
Of course, there’s no sense burying you in an avalanche of graduate-school theory. (If that’s the experience you want, have a stiff drink, lie down, and hope the feeling goes away. If that doesn’t work, call the nearest center of higher learning and maybe they can talk you out of it.) Instead, this book teaches you just enough biology for you to understand current research and pick up some practical body-boosting tips.
As you’ll discover, a dash of science can explain quite a few of the stranger details of day-to-day life. For example, simple biology can explain why you get goose bumps when you’re cold (page 31) and how—or if—antibacterial soaps really work (page 216). In short, the goal of this book is to give you the scientific insight you need to better your body. You won’t, however, pick up enough science to clone dear, departed Uncle Stan.
About the Outline
Your journey into your body wends its way through 11 chapters:
Skin: Your Outer Layer (Chapter 1) looks at your miraculous body wrap. You’ll learn how dead skin cells defend your body and litter your house, what causes everything from a mole to a wrinkle, and how antiperspirants tame body odor.
Fat (Chapter 2) sizes up one of the least welcome body ingredients: fat. You’ll learn why you need it, where it hides, and how your body stores it. You’ll also learn to distinguish healthy diets from the body abusers, and find out whether you’re pre-programmed to pack on the pounds.
Muscles (Chapter 3) considers your body’s movers and shakers. You’ll learn how muscles work, why you need to tear them up to make them grow, and how weight training can improve the health of your entire body (whether you’re a man or a woman). You’ll even pick up a batch of simple, effective compound exercises you can do at home.
Bones (Chapter 4) strips you down to your skeletal framework. You’ll look at the miniature factories that work inside your bones and learn how to preserve your spine with beneficial standing, sitting, and sleeping postures.
The Doors of Perception (Chapter 5) shows you how your sense organs— eyes, ears, nose, and tongue—gather information about the outside world. You’ll learn why nearly everyone eventually becomes nearsighted, what to do about ear wax, and how to tell if you’re a “supertaster.”
Your Lungs (Chapter 6) sucks you into the world of your respiratory system. You’ll consider unsettling topics that range from snoring to nasal mucus, examine the fine particles that lodge in your lungs, and get practical techniques for deep breathing and voice projection.
Your Heart (Chapter 7) introduces you to the pump inside. You’ll experience a virtual heart attack, learn the essential facts about blood pressure, and see how heart-rate monitoring can help you shape the perfect cardio workout.
Your Digestive System (Chapter 8) leads you on a tour through the winding passages of your digestive tract—a nearly 30-foot-long canal that travels from tongue to toilet. Along the way, you’ll sort out the probiotics from the prebiotics, make friends with fiber, and learn what your stool tells the world about you.
Your Immune System (Chapter 9) takes you to the battleground between your body and its many enemies. You’ll meet the bacteria that colonize your digestive system, greet the viruses that hijack your body, and discover what turns ordinary cells into cancer.
Sex and Reproduction (Chapter 10) pulls back the curtain on the male and female sexual organs, explaining how they work and what trips them up. You’ll also learn what health class didn’t tell you about fertility, female pleasure, and the male obsession with size.
Your Final Exit: Aging and Death (Chapter 11) takes you to the end of your life, and gives you a long, hard look at what it holds. You’ll learn why you age, why you die, and what’s most likely to do you in. Finally, you’ll get a sobering picture of your final moments, complete with a side trip to the bizarre world of a near-death experience.
The Missing Credits
Introduction
From the Outside In
Skin: Your Outer Layer
The Protective Wrapper
Skin and the Sun
Going Deeper
The Oil Factory
Your Temperature Control System
Hair
Fat
The Purpose of Fat
Fat Up Close
Taking Stock of Your Body Fat
Where Fat Lives
Understanding Your Body’s Anti-Starvation System
Muscles
Meet Your Muscles
Exercise
A Grab Bag of Strength Exercises
Bones
The Skeletal System
Living Bone
Joints
Your Spine
The Doors of Perception
Vision
Hearing
Smell
Taste
Your Lungs
The Respiratory System
Breathing
The Path to Your Lungs
Your Voice
Pollution
Your Heart
The Pump Inside
The Circulatory System
Heart Attacks
Cardio Exercise
Your Digestive System
In Your Mouth
Your Stomach
Your Small Intestine
Your Large Intestine
Your Immune System
Self-Defense
Bacteria
Viruses
Cancer
Flaws in the System
Sex and Reproduction
Male Sex Organs
Female Sex Organs
The Main Event
Your Final Exit: Aging and Death
Life Expectancy
Why We Die
Aging
The Anatomy of Death
The Final Word
Index