Get A New Body!

Received this ad. in my email the other day.

They were touting a Superfood and the whole premise of the concept was that seeing as the whole body is regenerated completely in less than a year, giving it the perfect raw materials to do so, would ensure optimum health. Reading between the lines, it would actually enable you to Reverse Aging, Fix damages, and build a newer and better you.

Now I read all of that and even allowing for some leeway and advertising hype, it seemed a little far fetched.

I had heard of body cells dying off and being replaced by new ones, so I was not disputing (mentally) that point.

I did not however seem to be able to recall that every cell would be a new cell in less than a year. My memory seemed to have figures of up to seven years floating around in it.

So I did some research into it and came up with the following:

There are in fact some cells which get replaced every few days! These are the ones being exposed to harsh environmental conditions like the acid in our stomach – causing the stomach lining to be replaced quite often, our skin, exposed to the environment gets replaced frequently . Then there are organ tissue cells that are regularly replaced, like our liver and such.

Our bones however take up to 10 years to be replaced.

Our brain– and this I found very interesting, although being able to grow new connections and enable new skills to be learned, has some cells, that are with us for life.

There is of course a whole lot of detail in between all of this.

The point however is that we really cannot rebuild ourselves, as appealing as that all sounds.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but science does seem to have this thing pinned down.

All this is not to say that superfoods are bad for you, on the contrary. Just be carefull about being taken in by stretched logic.

Here are some factual times for regeneration and growth.

Damaged nerve cells can regrow to some extent, as long as the nerve cell body is intact.The rate of nerve regeneration after injury is thought to be around 2 to 3mm per day..

The gut lining is replaced every 2 to 3 days
Some cells last longer – those that release antimicrobial fluid last 6 to 8 weeks

The lining of the bronchial tubes is replaced every 2-10 days
Microscopic air sacs called alveoli last 4 to 5 weeks

The surface of the cornea is covered in a thin layer of cells that is continually renewed. Complete turnover is every 7 to 10 days
Cells in the retina do not regenerate, which is why vision problems arise with age. However, stem cell treatments are beginning to target degenerating retinas
Researchers have managed to regenerate rods, the photoreceptors that capture dim light. But only in a Petri dish, so far

The surface of the skin is replaced every couple of weeks
Skin cells regenerate four times faster after a gentle injury, like ripping the top layer with sticky tape

Your taste buds are replaced every 10 days

Your fingernails grow almost 3.5mm each month, although the little fingernail grows more slowly than the others
Toenails grow at a rate of 1.6mm each month and the big toenail grows fastest

The heart is one of the least regenerative organs of the human body.
A 25 year old turns over just 1 per cent of their heart cells ever year, and this figure decreases with age .
In the course of a normal lifespan, less than half of your heart cells are replaced

Oxygen-carrying red blood cells are replaced every 4 months
The most common type of white blood cell, neutrophils, only last for a few hours. Another important type called lymphocytes are replaced at a rate of 10,000 cells every second

Liver cells turn over every 300 to 500 days
The human liver has an amazing capacity to regenerate itself. Remove up to 70 per cent of the organ and it will grow back to its normal healthy size in as little as a couple of months.
Surgeons have even removed as much as 90 per cent of the liver, although recovery is incomplete

The hair on your head could be anything up to 6 to 7 years old
Each day your head hairs grow 0.5mm
Body hair grows more slowly, about 0.27mm per day
Your eyebrows renew themselves every 64 days

The skeleton is completely replaced every 10 years

The average age of a muscle cell is 15 years

Our fingertips can grow back after injury – at least partly

The best results are seen in children, who can regenerate a new fingertip within a few months. But it works for adults too.
For this to happen, you need an intact nail bed. The new fingertip has sensation and a fingerprint too

Cells in the brain’s cortex are not renewed and are as old as you are, although there is evidence for continuous regeneration in the hippocampus