10 Things You Didn't Know About Belly Buttons

Check out 10 uncommon facts about belly buttons.

Our belly buttons deserve a lot more respect than what they typically get. Here are 10 uncommon facts about them.

Number 10 - While it may appear that not much goes on inside belly buttons, researchers at North Carolina State University discovered a quote unquote rainforest of species inside them. To be exact, a total of 2,368 bacterial species were found in the belly buttons of 60 study participants.

Number 9 - Duke University scientists figured out why black athletes dominate in the running competitions. Their belly button or the center of gravity is much higher than that in whites, giving them a height advantage.

Number 8 - It's a fact of life - we all have a belly button even your cat has one. However, there are notable exceptions. One of them is supermodel Karolina Kurkova who was voted E! Entertainment's World's Sexiest Woman in 2008. Due to a medical issue, she had hers removed as an infant. Another famous individual without a belly button was Alfred Hitchcock.

Number 7 - Oh that bacteria in our belly buttons I mentioned earlier. You could have gone to a cheese and wine event at the Science gallery in Dublin last year. The cheese they showcased was made using bacteria from belly buttons and other human body parts.

Number 6 - Let's talk about the gross navel lint that you have come across. If you are a man you see that more so than women because you have more hair. And want to know what it's made up of? An Austrian chemist studied his for 3 years and found that it consists of body hair, dead skin cells, and fibers from our clothes including those from our underwears.

Number 5 - Want to go for a cool belly button piercing? If you are visiting India, you might see somebody sporting a peacock-feather belly ring. It probably makes sense considering the peacock is the national bird of India.

Number 4 - there's much more to a belly button or umbilicus than you think. Aki Sinkkonen, a researcher from the University of Helsinki in Finland says "that the symmetry, shape, and position of umbilicus can be used to estimate the reproductive potential of fertile females."

Number 3 - More on the uses of a belly button - some plastic surgeons are performing breast augmentation through the belly button incisions. That method is preferred by some women as it's believed to leave minimal scars.

Number 2 - For many women, the shape of their belly buttons changes during pregnancy and goes from innie to outie. But after pregnancy, it reverts go back to their original shape.

Number 1 - Speaking of their shapes, 90% of us have innies and the remaining 10% have outies. Madonna once remarked during her interview with the Spin magazine - "I have the most perfect belly button: an inny, and there's no lint in it.When I stick my finger in my belly button, I feel a nerve in the center of my body shoot up my spine."

So what shape is your belly button?