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You may be surprised by what's living in your navel
nbc ^
| Cari Nierenberg
Posted on 12/15/2012 2:54:28 PM PST by BenLurkin
But according to new research, which asked 66 men and women to swab their navels with a sterile Q-tip, the skin in study participants' belly buttons also contained an average of 67 different species of bacteria.
He says the belly button is a fun habitat filled with living organisms that we don't know much about. It's less exposed and gets washed less often than other areas of skin, so the bacterial community in the umbilicus is less disturbed.
Only about 8 bacterial types occurred in more than 70% of all the people screened.
Those common kinds included species such as Staphylococci, which Dunn says is like your skin's standing army defending it from bad germs. Other frequent microbes were a species of Bacillus, a type that gives stinky feet their odor and may be protecting the body from fungi, and Micrococcus, a hardy bacteria found deep in the navel that can survive without oxygen.
Two samples contained an extremely rare type of archaea, a single-cell organism never previously found on human skin. One of these samples came from a man who self-reported that he had not bathed or showered for several years -- yikes!
TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS:
And all these we thought Buddha was wasting his time contemplating his navel.
1
posted on
12/15/2012 2:54:29 PM PST
by
BenLurkin
To: BenLurkin
How funny....I haven’t heard “ contemplating his navel” in years!!! LOL!
2
posted on
12/15/2012 3:00:04 PM PST
by
ColdOne
(I miss my poochie... Tasha 2000~3/14/11 0bie don' t eatl my dog!)
To: ColdOne
The word
Omphaloskepsis was actually coined to describe such contemplation.
3
posted on
12/15/2012 3:02:50 PM PST
by
Olog-hai
To: BenLurkin
Undergo a couple of laparoscopic surgeries and you won’t have a navel left.
4
posted on
12/15/2012 3:13:41 PM PST
by
353FMG
To: BenLurkin
I’ve got several tiny gnomes residing in there right now - normally not a problem - but they aren’t getting along too well with the Gummy Bears inside my brain......
5
posted on
12/15/2012 3:49:05 PM PST
by
Psalm 73
("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room".)
To: BenLurkin
Only one chakra is located in the navel.
Al Gore’s favorite chakra is located a few degrees south of that one.
6
posted on
12/15/2012 3:52:10 PM PST
by
left that other site
(Worry is the Darkroom that Develops Negatives.)
To: BenLurkin
"...Staphylococci, which Dunn says is like your skin's standing army..." Hence the term Navel Infantry ;-)
7
posted on
12/15/2012 3:55:00 PM PST
by
Joe 6-pack
(Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
To: BenLurkin
But what about those belly buttons that are outties?
8
posted on
12/15/2012 3:59:49 PM PST
by
bgill
(We've passed the point of no return. Welcome to Al Amerika.)
To: BenLurkin
DO YOU BELONG TO THE STOMACH CLUB?
IF NOT
TURN IN YOUR BELLY BUTTON.
9
posted on
12/15/2012 4:00:04 PM PST
by
xrmusn
(6/98 "It is virtually impossible to clean the pond as long as the pigs are still crapping in it")
To: BenLurkin
When I was a kid I was assigned to write a report on the Naval Academy.When finished I brought it to my mother for checking (my father was on a business trip).When my mother realized that I repeatedly spelled it “Navel” she broke out laughing and didn't stop for 10 minutes.That's my one memory about navels.
10
posted on
12/15/2012 4:12:46 PM PST
by
Gay State Conservative
(Benghazi: What Did Baraq Know And When Did He Know It?)
To: BenLurkin
But what if I’m saving up to knit a sweater?
Maybe the reason everyone is sick all the time (as opposed to 30 years ago) is because we’re too clean.
11
posted on
12/15/2012 4:19:01 PM PST
by
FlJoePa
("Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good")
To: bgill
If you’re an outtie, never mind :)
12
posted on
12/15/2012 4:51:10 PM PST
by
upchuck
(America's at an awkward stage. Too late to work within the system, too early to shoot the bastards.)
To: BenLurkin
13
posted on
12/15/2012 6:14:56 PM PST
by
berdie
To: 353FMG
"Undergo a couple of laparoscopic surgeries and you wont have a navel left."
I had 3 regular abdominal surgeries over an 18 month period, so there's not much left.
14
posted on
12/15/2012 6:24:28 PM PST
by
mass55th
(Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
To: BenLurkin
I saw him once, sneaking a drink while I took a shower. He glared at me with hard, glittery eyes, flipped me the Bird and ran back inside. That was years ago and I haven’t seen him since. Frankly, I don’t want to.
To: ColdOne
Figures there's be someone with the Guinness on *button lint*. Heh.
16
posted on
12/15/2012 9:57:29 PM PST
by
Daffynition
(Self-respect: the secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious. ~ HLM)
To: BenLurkin
What doesn't kill ya will make you stronger...
17
posted on
12/15/2012 10:00:36 PM PST
by
Daffynition
(Self-respect: the secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious. ~ HLM)
To: BenLurkin
Most people don’t realize that the number of bacteria living in and on the human body VASTLY exceed the number of human cells that make up “you”.
18
posted on
12/15/2012 10:01:57 PM PST
by
djf
(Conservative values help the poor. Liberal values help them STAY poor!!!)
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