Butt. Rear. Tuchus. Derrière. Can. Caboose. Whatever you call it, the posterior is one of the most important parts of the human body. It plays many crucial roles in our daily lives, from allowing us to move around freely to helping us rid our digestive system of waste products. Despite all of its uses, most people don't know the most interesting facts about butts.
To a certain extent, mystery shrouds the butt. It's involved in some admittedly icky bodily functions, a fact that likely prevents a lot of people from fully understanding its usefulness. Simply put, we would be lost without our backsides. They are our constant companions, our allies, and our cushions - not to mention an endless source of humor, pleasure, and pain. And, as this list of facts about butts demonstrates, the rear can be just as fascinating as the human brain.
The Average Person Passes Gas Between 10 And 20 Times A Day
As with other digestive processes, such as going to the toilet or burping, the number of times per day a person expels gas depends on a variety of factors. People's unique biological characteristics and their specific diets play significant roles in how many times they will pass gas throughout any given day.
Doctors generally consider 10 to 20 expulsions per day normal. If you're breaking wind significantly more, it could indicate health problems. However, it's more likely just the result of new bacteria growing in the colon or a change in diet. The majority of gas passed doesn't smell bad, as only a few contain sulfuric compounds that produce an unpleasant odor.
Butts Can Get Really Big
There doesn't seem to be a hard limit on exactly how big butts can get. In 2015, Mikel Ruffinelli made headlines for her bottom, which measured 8.25 feet around. But why do some butts grow larger than others? Scientists have cited a couple of different factors. A large butt may be an evolutionary survival mechanism. Our butts are not vulnerable like our heads and chests, which protect the brain and the heart, so our bodies put fats in a "safer" area where it can be stored in case of a shortage or crisis.
Hormones also play a role, especially for women. Fat has hormone receptors. Estrogen receptors are just below the skin, much closer to the surface than testosterone receptors. The layer of fat covering the gluteus, being just below the skin, has more natural estrogen receptors, which means it draws and stores fat more easily.
The Butt Is The Biggest Muscle In The Human Body
The important role the bottom plays in allowing humans to stand erect and walk around means it has to be incredibly strong. While it's not necessarily the strongest muscle in the body, the gluteus maximus is the largest. It not only covers most of the butt cheek area, but it also encompasses the hips and upper legs.
It is the primary muscle the body utilizes when we go up and down stairs, fighting gravity so that we don't topple over or careen headlong to the bottom.
The Coccyx Used To Be A Tail
You know that hard, protruding bump at the base of your spine, right at the uppermost part of the butt crack? That's the coccyx, or tailbone; it's also been called the butt bone. Back before we evolved into upright, walking humans, the tailbone extended off the body into an actual tail.
Over time, evolution did away with most of it, and now it's essentially a vestigial tail. But the bone remains an integral part of the spine and a reminder of what we once were.