Here Are Some Interesting Facts About The Belly Button No One Ever Told You About

Written by Shirin Mehdi, BA  • 

The belly button is quite a neglected part of our body. The navel, as it is also called, literally means the central point. The belly button is approximately in the center of our bodies, and even though it is tiny, it has many hidden secrets that no one usually tells you about. Here are some of those secrets revealed:

1. The Belly Button Is The First Ever Mark Or Scar You Bear

The belly button is a sign that you were once attached to your mother through the umbilical cord that joined you to her placenta, which was your source of life and nutrition. Once you were born, the cord was cut. And, the scar and the leftover tissue from the cut is now your weirdly wonderful navel. The big question, though, is whether or not Adam and Eve had belly buttons. I doubt it!

2. Bacteria-Laden

In the year 2012, a research paper titled “A Jungle In There” suggested that the diverse fauna found in about 60 belly buttons amounted to 2,368 different species living within the dark, damp warmth of that tiny hole. At all times, there are at least 67 different species swamping around in that area.

[ Recommended Read: Home Remedies To Treat Belly Button Infection ]

3. A Missing Belly Button

A research done by Stacy Hackner from UCL states that all placental mammals who were nourished through the cord while they were in their mothers’ wombs, will definitely start with a belly button. But some of these species, humans included, have their navel covered with fur, or it just fades over time. For others, it is just a thin scar or a small bump.

4. It Could Get Infected

A belly button piercing is cool and trendy. But did you know that it takes about six months to a year to heal, and longer if it remains damp? If you have a piercing, you need to be extra careful. Make sure you practice hygiene and do everything your therapist has suggested to keep the area clean. Remember point 2? The belly button is bacteria-laden.

5. Belly Button Fluff

Skin cells and tiny fibers from cloth, when compressed under the body heat, form a sort of lint. Being hairy only instigates the process; therefore men usually find themselves with a little fluff in their bellies at the end of each day. A nasty piece of trivia – there was a guy who collected this fluff in little bottles. That’s just EEEwwww!

[ Recommended Read: Simple Exercises To Reduce Belly Fat ]

6. Meditate – Stare At Your Belly Button

The Greek monks of Mount Athos are said to have indulged in something called the “navel contemplation”. In their terms, it was called Hesychasm. It entailed staring into the navel while being drawn into a state of meditation. This apparently gave them a broader insight into divinity.

Did you know that there is a technical term for navel-gazing? It is called Omphaloskepsis.

7. Belly Button Fetish! Sounds Familiar?

Well, there are people who like their belly buttons to be a certain way. For example, a 27-year-old high school teacher was obsessed with a protruding navel. He wanted it so bad, that on one occasion, he cut himself with a razor and almost bled to death, and when that didn’t work, he actually used a needle and thread to achieve that protrusion. Gross, or psychotic, or both!

8. Belly Button Flavored Cheese

You might be shocked to know that there is a project called “Selfmade”, brought together biologist Christina Agapakis, and Sissel Tolaas, an odor artist, to make different cheeses using the microbes from different parts of the body, including the belly button. Food writer Michael Pollan’s belly button microbes were among the samples of microbes used. Oh! How I love a cheesy meal…

[ Recommended Read: Foods That Burn Belly Fat ]

9. The Earth Has A Belly Button

At the heart of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, that is located in Utah, lies a huge pothole. It is colloquially called the cosmic navel. It is almost two hundred feet wide, and geologists say that it is 216000 years old. Now this navel has surely seen a lot!

Once you’ve registered these facts, you are surely going to look at that tiny little belly button in a totally different light. Good, bad, ugly – it is still yours!

Image Credit: www.istockphoto.com

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