The human body is way way more intriguing than you think.
Take, for example, this tribe from the Philippines, which baffled scientists to the extreme, because it seems that over the years, their bodies have adapted so deeply to the waters.
They can only dive in incredible depths without scuba diving gear, and can reportedly hold their breath by up to 5 minutes. Some even claimed to reach 13 minutes (although not yet proven in real time).
They are the Bajau people, an ethnic tribe living around the areas of the Sulu Sea.
What’s crazy is that they’ve spent so much of their lives in water that their bodies started adjusting. Not just on a matter of practice or routine, but on a genetic level. It’s as though their actual biology shifted.
That’s the part that stunned scientists.
It turns out, the Bajau have significantly larger spleens than the average human being. Which sounds random, until you realize the spleen plays a huge role in breath-holding.
When you dive, it contracts and releases a stash of red blood cells into your bloodstream, buying you more time underwater. So if you have a bigger spleen, you get a bigger oxygen boost. Like nature gave them a built-in scuba tank.
But it doesn’t end there. Their bodies tolerate low oxygen levels better. Their heart rates slow down more dramatically underwater. Some even have gene variants that help them survive these extreme conditions.
This isn’t something you train for. It’s something your body becomes.
It’s one of the most mind-blowing proofs that we’re not fixed beings. We’re not born with one blueprint and stuck with it for life. The human body responds to pressure, to need, to survival. And over time, it rewrites its own rules.
In some articles I read, some described the Bajau’s case as a development of a mutant gene. That sounds like something straight out of a Marvel movie.
Amazing!
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