You may never have realised it, but your tongue plays a more important role than just tasting stuff. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to eat, speak, spit, kiss or keep your lady friend happy after dark.

Advertisement

Not only is it the strongest muscle in your body, but it is the only muscle that is connected at only one end. Aside from that, every single tongue on earth has its own individual tongue print.

Your tongue is also made up mainly of skeletal muscle. There are also over 10 000 taste buds on the surface of your tongue, giving you the ability to taste the difference between, sweet, sour, salty and bitter.

Aside from giving the ability to tell the different between a cheap beer, and an imported classic, your tongue is unfortunately also a primary source of bad breath. Food particles collect in between your taste buds, feeding bacteria which leads to bad breath.

Hairy tongue
Strangely, the overgrowth of taste buds is not an uncommon occurrence, and is called ‘hairy tongue’ syndrome. The colour of your tongue can be a good indicator of your health, and if it is a pale pink, it could mean something has broken down. If you get a yellowish coating over your tongue, it usually means you have a fever, or some kind of digestive complication.

Our tongues might be amazing, but they are nothing compared to the tongues of some of our animal counterparts.

A chameleon’s tongue is twice the length of its body, while a blue whales tongue can weigh more than a small truck. A giraffe can clean its own ears with its 40cm-long tongue.

If you’re a smoker and still have your tongue, beware. Tongue cancer is between 6 and 27 times more likely in smokers than in non-smokers.

Did you know?

• Tongue piercing is an ancient cultural practice that dates back before recorded history
• A blue whales tongue is the length of an elephant
• Your tongue consists of four different types of taste buds, one of which closely resembles the shape of a mushroom
• The worlds longest tongue belongs to a woman, which is 9.3 cm long from the tip of her lips when extended.

(Warren Vonk, Health24, February 2006)


 

Print this article

Rate this article Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent

Bookmark with:

What are social bookmarks?

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumble Upon

JOBS

Operations Manager R20,000-25,000 Per Month Cost To Company Incl Benefits Gauteng - East Rand Financial Accountant: CA(SA) R400,000-500,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Key Account Manager Gauteng Java Developer-CT Western Cape - Cape Town Java Developer-Jozi Gauteng Account Manager R460,000-540,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Plus Benefits Gauteng Account Manager R460,000-540,000 Per Annum Market Related Plus Benefits South Africa Case Manager R210,000-220,000 Per Annum Negotiable Gauteng - Pretoria Find more jobs Register your CV Post a job

Send this to a friend