Kissing, Oozing, Flowing and Leaking Quiz

Answer: Water

The human body is about fifty to seventy-five percent water, depending on a person's age, gender, health and hydration. Infants for instance are made up of about 75% to 78% water (as any parent can attest). By age one the percentage is closer to sixty-five. Males average about 60%, and women 55% because they have more curves (fatty tissue), and curves contain less water than lean tissue.

When humans are thirsty they have lost two to three per cent of their total water. The human cell is 90% water. Water is essential to take in and process food, cushion joints, carry oxygen and nutrients to and from cells, and flush waste. We can survive only about three days, on average, without it.

Answer: Mucus

Globby and gooey, slimy or colorful, nobody admires this stuff. But special tissues produce mucus to line and protect the mouth, nose, throat, sinuses, lungs and intestinal tract. Mucus keeps delicate surfaces from drying out, traps debris and bacteria, and contains antibodies that signal "Invader!" so that enzymes, proteins and cells can go into battle mode. Mucus can also cause allergic response, become thicker for various reasons, and show up clear, yellow, reddish, brownish or green. If you irrigate your sinuses always use sterile or distilled salty water, perhaps in a neti pot (developed in ancient India) or bulb syringe.

These help flush out debris and may decrease illness. Just don't overdo it.

Answer: Lactation

Lactation is the secretion of milk from the mammary glands for consumption by an infant. Prolactin, estrogen, TSH, oxytocin and several other hormones put the process, called galactopoiesis, into production, and then maintain it while an infant requires milk. Colostrum is a yellowish breast milk made for the first few days after birth.

It is rich in nutrients and passes some immunity to the baby. "Foremilk" is then produced, to hydrate the newborn and satisfy thirst. Foremilk is watery, but rich in minerals, proteins and carbohydrates.

In each feeding, hindmilk follows foremilk. Hindmilk is full of creamy, fatty calories. Breast milk is especially valuable for feeding the brain and neurons, and visual development. Breast milk may even protect an infant against cancer.

Answer: Sweat

Also called perspiration, transpiration or diaphoresis, sweat is a watery, sometimes fatty, fluid secreted by two types of sweat glands in the skin. Its main purpose is to keep us cool by evaporating from the skin surface. Sweat also releases toxins, helping to cleanse the body, and it may be useful to signal anxiety. Sweat is odorless, but can smell after it combines with bacteria on the skin. Men sweat, on average, 40% more than women, and there is more salt in their sweat.

A small percentage of people have a medical condition in which they sweat excessively.

Answer: Saliva

Saliva is a clear liquid made by glands in the mouth. It is beneficial as we taste, chew and eat, it fights germs, and protects the teeth. There's actually a scientific field of the study of kissing called philematology. These scientists found that kissing and sex drive are positively correlated. That's because saliva has testosterone in it, and testosterone increases sex drive.

The evidence suggested that for this reason, men like wetter kisses. (Rutgers University, 2009). Though kissing was primarily a Western practice, it's caught on around the world.

Some medications and medical conditions can change the amount of saliva we produce, and should be discussed with your dentist and doctor.

Answer: False

False. Excretion is elimination of bodily products deemed toxins or waste, usually via lungs, kidneys and skin. Urine, carbon dioxide and sweat are excretions. All forms of life excrete.

Secretion is the production and discharge of a substance, usually from a cell, gland or organ, usually for a specific function. Bile, hormones, milk, semen, tears, and mucus are secretions.

Answer: Bile

Bile is a greenish-yellow liquid secreted by the liver to aid digestion. It is especially useful for digesting fats. Bile is sometimes vomited, for instance during some illnesses, or after the gallbladder is removed. Bile is also used in English to mean nasty anger or bitterness. "That man was spewing bile in his speech today". Liver bile is a bitter-tasting fluid.

Answer: Lacrimations

Tears (in Latin, lacrima) clean and lubricate the eyes, especially when they are irritated by, for instance, wind, chemicals, or dust and debris. Tears form when people (and some animals) feel strong emotions, whether joy or grief, awe, excitement, relief, laughter or even yawning. Lacrimal fluid is spread across the eye when we blink, and even spreads into the nasal cavity if there is a lot of it, which is why the nose runs.

There are basal tears, which lubricate and protect; reflex tears which react to irritants like bright sun or onions; and weeping tears, which release hormones, including a pain killer. Aqueous and vitreous humors are other fluids of the eyeball, which bring it nutrients, assist vision, and hold its shape.

Answer: Kidney

The kidney is a small but essential organ of complex makeup. As people consume foods and liquids every day they generate toxins and waste. The blood is filtered and cleaned of these by the kidneys, before it is sent to the bladder to be expelled as urine. Kidneys also re-absorb useful materials, maintain acid-base balance and produce hormones that are vital for healthy bone marrow, regulating blood pressure and retaining calcium in the bones. Urine may contain salts, amino acids, potassium, and chemicals like ammonia to be expelled. Drink plenty of water to avoid kidney stones, and do not 'hold' your urine for long periods. If you gotta go, go.

Answer: Oxygen

Blood delivers essential nutrients and oxygen to cells, and takes away waste from those same cells. About 55% of blood is "plasma", a yellow, watery fluid in which blood cells and other materials suspend. Most of these blood cells are red (RBCs or erythrocytes) which carry oxygen, or white (leukocytes and platelets) which fight infections and parasites, and help clotting. Blood circulates around the entire body via the blood vessels, by the pumping of the heart, transporting heat to all parts as well. Blood also serves as a messenger, and transports hormones.

The red color is mostly due to the protein that transports oxygen (hemoglobin). Blood, and bleeding, are deeply emotionally symbolic for human beings.