I learned an interesting fact today - on average, adults produce 1.5 liters of saliva a day. Picture it - that 2 liter of coke in the fridge, 3/4 full of spit....everyday we do this.
You may wonder why this is important. It's really important to hospice docs and nurses, the people who take care of those in the process of dying. Often terminal patients, when close to the end of life, don't do the simple things like swallowing anymore - we have reflexes that keep us breathing, and keep our hearts going when we're in those deep comas close to death - but the swallow mechanism is often absent. There's that 1.5 liters that has no where to go. We give special medicines to help stop the saliva production... thus the interesting fact of how much we make everyday! Just to round off the saliva discussion - did you know that the tongue couldn't "taste" food without saliva... a dry tongue will taste nothing.
Fun facts to pass around and mull over during your next meal.
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