When I decided to take the Anatomy and Physiology class, I was thinking about learning more about the human body. I plan to pursue a career as a neuroscience researcher, but I believed an overall, more comprehensive, knowledge of the body would come in handy. The thing I was not expecting was that the body I learned the most about was mine.
During our first week, we talked about bones and muscles. We talked about the piezoelectricity effect, in which applying force to the bone allows twisted fibers of collagen to open, presenting their charges, that attract osteoblasts, increasing bone density. My bones are here to protect and support me. If I don’t apply some force on them, they will become weak, bringing me issues in the future. We also talked about some muscles that we don’t usually think about when stretching or doing strength training, but that can help us in supporting our body, and doing different tasks. We even discussed some yoga poses that could help in stretching and strengthening those muscles, and the benefits that this could bring, such as less back pain. In summary, not exercising prejudices the balance of my body. And that is not even mentioning all the other benefits, such as the release of positive hormones.
In the cardiovascular unity, we explored the concept of heart rate variation (HRV). The higher your HRV, the more benefits you have, such as resistance to stress and a positive emotional base. While scrolling through your phone, your HRV is usually low; but you can increase it with a few minutes of mindful respiration. Once again, a simple change in my habits could bring positive impacts down the line.
We also learned about the risks of a high-fat diet. When there is excess fat in the liver, for example, our white blood cells can start absorbing the fat, creating plaques that can occlude our coronary artery, causing infarcts. This is also true about the high ingestion of sugar, which can make our brain resistant to insulin, and later, to leptin. The resistance would make us feel hungry all the time, which could lead to metabolic syndrome, which can lead to heart disease, atherosclerosis, and even cancer. These lectures helped me to understand the importance of a healthy and balanced diet.
Besides learning about all these features and necessities of my body, I had the chance personally experience the class content. Looking at the personal health log, I realized that, besides the evident lack of sleep and exercise, all of my meals looked the same (and highly dependent on sugar). Even though water intake and motivation levels were not in the chart, I noticed that my motivation levels were getting lower, and I was not drinking enough water. After a few weeks of procrastination, I decided to put myself back on track. I slept earlier one day, to wake up and go for a run before class the next day. It is insane how my motivation was already improved in the day itself. The sleep and exercise also motivated me to eat better and drink more water, which in turn kept me determined to do exercise. The motivation also allowed me to accomplish my tasks faster, enabling me to sleep longer: it was a great cycle to get into.
I believe this class reminded me of how the body is such a perfect balance, in which so many things could go wrong. My major takeaway from this month is to value my body more, be more grateful for it, but also to take better care of it.