52 Weeks of Learning Something New: 2021

by Noom Team | Dec 15, 2020 | Last updated Apr 5, 2023

As we approach the new year, many people like to create resolutions to take them through the year. Some people lose sight because their resolutions are too hard. If you resolve to learn something new every day, then you came to the right place.

You’re about to learn about learning. We’ll discuss its benefits, how to do it, and what healthy people are doing. From there, you’ll get exposure to 52 health facts to take you through the 52 weeks of 2021.

The Benefit of Learning Something New

Learning new information can be dissected in a few different ways. At its most meaningful, learning is the act of hearing or reading something you never knew and then giving it significant thought. This process of thinking about something new is said to help strengthen your brain.

Since the brain is a muscle, scientists have found that thinking and learning are like strength training for your brain. This makes learning about health topics doubly important. Not only are you learning what makes you healthier, but in turn, you’re becoming healthier!

The overarching benefit is that you’re expanding your horizons. If you still knew the same amount of information that you knew when you were 7, you’d be in a tough spot right now.

Some people think that once they graduate high school or college, they don’t need to learn anymore. The truth is that we’re learning every day. The more we know, the better we become!

Noom can help you learn new things every day. Our weight-loss system creates a focus on learning new healthy habits to aid in weight-loss.

How to Learn Something New

The tricky part is finding out how to learn something new every day. Well, you can start by challenging yourself to learn something new today, don’t worry about the future.

If you take this daily approach, soon you’ll reflect and realize that you did learn something new every day.

The actual method of finding new information depends on you. You can have a conversation with someone, talk to a stranger, read something on the internet, watch a movie, or just go about your normal life and overhear a conversation.

If you’re actively looking to learn something new today, then you will.

It’s Not Just About Learning

Health officials say that it’s not just about learning healthy facts; it’s also a matter of creating new behavior because of this new information. This is a point that’s worth repeating here. Simply learning facts about your health isn’t going to help anything if you just dismiss them afterward and continue living the same way.

View each health fact you learn as a way to open your eyes and improve your life. There’s a little bit of reflection that should go into any new piece of information that you learn.

By exploring the idea on your own, you’ll make a more meaningful connection to the information. This allows you to remember the data and find ways to use it in your life. Think about the newest activity you picked up. What caused you to start doing it? You might have gotten introduced to an idea surrounding that activity that later inspired you to start doing it.

This is the primary reason why experts encourage people to think about the information they’re learning. To let ideas go in one ear and out the other does nothing but hurt you in the long run.

The Idea of Learning About Learning

There’s a term called “metacognition.” It refers to your brain’s ability to think about what it’s doing and analyze its thoughts. In this case, it can refer to the idea of learning about learning.

The brain is the only muscle in your body that can analyze itself. Depending on how much you want to explore this idea, there’s a lot to learn about. At any rate, when you’re thinking about thinking or learning about learning, you’re using your ability of metacognition.

This is a big term used in the psychology world, but it applies to health as well.

Psychology and health are very connected, especially when it comes to weight-loss. That’s why Noom uses psychology-backed tactics to help users make changes to their habits.

What Healthy People are Doing

There are a few main things that healthy people are known to do. If you want to adopt a healthier mindset and body in 2021, try to incorporate these activities.

The three big things that healthy people do are: get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water, and have regular exercise sessions. Routines can help build good habits, which’s always the case for healthy lives.

These three tasks promote weight loss, make you feel happier, and improve your quality of life. You’ll find that many healthy people will list these as the three major topics they focus on.

Another thing they’re doing is continuously learning about health. You don’t know what you don’t know until you learn about it! If you had no idea that loads of sugar was bad for you, you would never change your sugar-eating routines.

Where to Learn Something New

There are a lot of resources that you can use if you want to learn new facts. Sometimes, finding the right place to learn is just as important as your desire to learn.

The Internet

The most significant resource is one that you’re using right now – the internet.

Hopping on YouTube or a quick Google search replaces the old need to go to the library. Make sure you carefully screen the information you get so you don’t trust the wrong people!

Many experts in the health industry take to the internet to explore different ideas and share their research. They’ll publish their findings for everyone to read and learn.

College

Another good resource is to go to a university. This might not be an option for everyone, but it’s something to consider. If you’re passionate about learning about health, then maybe you’re well-suited for a career in the health industry.

Enrolling in a two-year degree will expose you to industry-leaders and like-minded people that you would otherwise have no exposure to. They can teach you a lot more than you can imagine.

You don’t need a college degree to learn about your own health, though. Instead, a system like Noom that utilizes health tracking tools, educational lessons, personal meal plans, and 1:1 coaching sessions can teach you a lot about your healthy habits.

Documentaries

There are so many documentaries that exist today. All of them are built around their categories, and health is a big category that people like to explore. You’re sure to find a ton of different documentaries to help you.

On the Street

As you walk down the street, be mindful of the things you hear around you. There are sure to be people exploring ideas with one another.

This is especially true if you live in a busy city. When you’re walking somewhere, be aware of the conversations around you. You never know when you’ll hear a health fact that completely changes your point of view!

Talking to a Friend

Of course, you can also spark a conversation with a friend. When you check in with your friends, ask if they’re doing anything different in their life. By hearing what changes they’re making and understanding the ideas surrounding it, you might be able to make changes in your life too.

Did your friend recently change their diet for a particular reason? It might be interesting to hear what they learned. After they share the information with you, revisit the thought later on your own. Is there a way that this new piece of information can help shape your health as well?

52 Health Facts to Learn Something New Today

To give you a jumpstart, let’s review 52 health facts. This will take you through the entirety of 2021, one week at a time. Remember to keep learning on your own during the year!

#1: Laughing is good for you. It can increase your blood flow by up to 20%. This increased blood flow can help get more oxygen to your brain, improving your neural function.

#2: Your skin does more than you realize. Your skin is the largest organ in your body. Not only that, but it fights against infection. Your skin is also responsible for regulating temperature and vitamin production.

#3: Being an optimist can help you live longer. Scientists have found that good moods and optimism can help you live longer. Optimism leads to lower blood pressure, a healthier heart, and a propensity to a healthy diet and exercise.

#4: Exercise gives you more energy. Even when you feel like you’re dragging, a quick stop to the gym can wake you right up.

#5: Too much sitting is bad. Sitting and sleeping are fine in moderation, but too much can increase your chances of severe health complications.

#6: Peeing in the pool is bad for your heart. When the urine mixes with chlorine, it makes a dangerous chemical. That “pool smell” that you recognize is that chemical. The byproduct of that chemical is cyanogen chloride used in war to damage the hearts and lungs.

#7: You only breathe through one nostril at a time. Doctors found that every few hours, your active nostril swaps. Put your finger under your nose and try right now!

#8: Shock can make things smell worse. Certain emotions can change how you perceive a smell. Being in shock makes bad scents smell a lot worse. Scientists have found that people in events like a car accident found neutral smells unpleasant, and they found terrible smells to be even worse.

#9: Men forget more than women. When it comes to the battle of the sexes, women retain more information. This might be due to the hippocampus. Men’s volume decreases faster than women’s.

#10: Eggshells grow human bones. The eggshell of a chicken’s egg has a lot of calcium carbonate, which is also found in our bones. Scientists have resorted to using sustainable nature to help in the lab; this is no exception.

#11: Eating eggs can help your reflexes. Eating eggs gives your body extra norepinephrine and dopamine. These two chemicals increase how alert you are, how much energy you have, and the positivity of your mood. Enough of it can boost your overall reflexes.

Learning about your own eating habits through a weight-loss system like Noom can be another way you learn about something new this year. Answer a few questions to find out how much weight you can lose in just 16 weeks.

#12: One-tenth of your total weight is blood. The scale isn’t just telling you how much muscle and fat you have. It also accounts for the massive amounts of blood in your body. An adult can have between 1.2 and 1.5 gallons coursing through them at any time!

#13: Newborns aren’t born with much blood. Newborns don’t have more than a cup of blood upon birth. As they grow, their veins and heart get larger, which results in more blood being produced.

#14: Birth weight can determine allergy risk. Research found that for every kilogram increase in birth weight, there was a 44% higher chance of food allergies and a 17% higher risk of eczema.

#15: Tick bites can make you allergic to red meat. Another side effect of getting bitten by a tick is developing an allergy to pork, beef, lamb, and goat. In severe cases, this allergy could lead you to stop breathing. Sometimes this allergy fades away; other times, it’s permanent.

#16: Red meat gives you BO. You can have increased levels of body odor by eating red meat. A study found that refraining from eating red meat leads to a more pleasant smell.

#17: Apples can ease claustrophobia. Specifically, the scent of an apple has been linked to changing your perception of the space around you. The smell of green apples can make you feel like the room is larger. Stay away from barbecue smoke; it does the opposite.

#18: The lungs burn the most fat. When you’re exercising, most of the fat-burning is thanks to your lungs. More than 80% of the fat you lost is converted to CO2 and expelled thanks to your lungs. The rest is lost through sweat, urine, and tears.

#19: Humans are the only animals with chins. Strange thing to think about but try to picture another animal that has a chin. Sure, they have jaws – but no other species has a chin. Scientists theorize that maybe a chin enhances our ability to chew.

#20: Some people have an extra bone in their knee. This extra bone, called the fabella, has no known purpose. Within the last century, a human having this bone has become nearly 3.5 times more likely.

#21: More than half of all of your bones are in your hands and feet. Out of the body’s 206 bones, 106 can be accounted for in your hands and feet.

#22: Wearing high heels improves your decisions. When people wear heels, they have a heightened sense of balance. This helps people make decisions when it comes to spending money. The same can be said about people who do yoga.

#23: Roller coasters can help you pass kidney stones. A lot of people reported that they passed a kidney stone after riding a rollercoaster in Disney World. After a study in 2016, they found that riding a roller coaster with quick twists and turns can help dislodge these stones.

#24: Fingernails grow faster on your dominant hand. Not only does your dominant hand have bigger fingers, but it also grows fingernails the fastest. You can expect the fastest growth during the daytime and the summer months.

#25: Shivering burns calories. To be more precise, the body burns about 100 calories every 15 minutes of shivering. Along with the calories burned from physical shivering, but the hormone irisin is released from muscles. These hormones promote heat production from stored fat cells.

#26: You spend more time on the toilet than exercising. Adults spend an average of 3 hours and 9 minutes on the toilet every week. Comparatively, we spend an hour and 30 minutes a week working out. Maybe it’s time to bring dumbbells into the bathroom.

#27: Gum heightens your focus. Chewing gum can make you more focused and alert. The brain thinks that you’re ingesting nutrients, and it puts you on high alert every time there’s a chewing motion.

#28: Impulse-control is inherited. So is procrastination. The same gene can cause either behavior and often the two go hand-in-hand. Putting off a task because you feel like doing something else is an excellent example of this.

This is where a useful app like Noom can help since they offer useful tools like daily goals, food tracking, and more. Let us help you build healthy habits.

#29: Pictures ruin your memory. Studies have found that taking pictures hurts your recollection of the event that you were photographing. A study asked two groups of people to look at a painting and remember some details. One group had to take a picture of it, and the other did not. The camera-less group performed much better in recalling details.

#30: Physical activity makes babies smarter. Intelligence is known to be largely hereditary. A study found that pregnant women who worked out three times a week for 20-minute sessions had children with improved brain functions.

#31: Physical reading is better than digital. There are higher comprehension levels for readers who opt for physical books over digital readers like Kindle users. People using the screen had a more challenging time grasping complicated ideas and complex situations.

#32: Oatmeal helps with low mood. People who suffer from poor moods often have a lack of serotonin. Eating foods like oatmeal and chicken increase your tryptophan, which supports your brain’s production of serotonin.

#33: Coffee helps battle sadness. Caffeine is known to boost people’s mood, but it also improves brain function and the brain’s chemical balance. A study found that a daily cup of coffee decreased people’s sadness by up to 8 percent.

#34: Bananas can improve your mood. Bananas are known to contain dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical responsible for promoting happiness in your brain.

#35: Hot liquids can cool you. If you’re someone who ditches hot coffee during summer, you’re in for a surprise. As your sweat evaporates, you feel cooler. When you drink a hot drink, you start to sweat more, which cools you down faster.

#36: Stress makes allergies worse. Stress is known for doing a ton of different things, and one of those things involves making your allergy symptoms worse. A test involved putting people in high-stress situations and gauging their allergies before and after the event.

#37: Exercising at a young age helps you when you’re old. When you’re young, exercising strengthens your bones. This reduces the deterioration of your bones when you’re older. A history of working out can lead to a future of stronger bones for longer.

#38: Chocolate makes your skin healthier. Here’s a medical reason why you should love eating chocolate. Dark chocolate can prevent wrinkles and reverse skin damage thanks to the antioxidants in each bite.

#39: Regular chocolate eaters are skinnier. A study in 2012 found that people who eat chocolate more often are, on average, thinner. This was the case, no matter what type of chocolate was consumed. Skinnier people said they ate chocolate at least five times a week.

#40: The morning sun can help you lose weight. Exposure to the morning sun has a positive impact on your BMI. Even as little as 30 minutes in the morning can help. This isn’t just due to the exercise you might receive by going outside; it also has to do with sunlight regulating your metabolism.

#41: Massaging a scar can make it disappear. Rubbing your scars a few times a day can protect against collagen buildup. Collagen buildup makes your scars thick and noticeable. Use one or two fingers and massage the scar perpendicular to the line of the scar.

#42: Fish skin can heal burns. Other parts of the world use the skin of tilapia to bandage burn victims. It cuts down healing time, reduces pain, and helps prevent scarring, too.

#43: Electronic music can keep away mosquitoes. Playing EDM results in a combination of high and low frequencies and a continually escalating pitch. It discourages mosquitoes from breeding and biting people.

#44: Giving thanks makes you happier. A 2003 study found that saying “thank you” and showing gratitude could be a key to happiness. It might promote your happiness by up to 25%.

#45: Dogs can give you a healthier heart. Stress is a significant reason that people’s hearts aren’t healthy. Dog owners, on average, have lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels, which equates to a stronger and healthier heart.

#46: Ginger can reduce bloating. Countries across the world have used ginger to help with many symptoms. Shogaols and gingerols, both found in ginger, induce bowel movements and help with digestion. This is why ginger is such a good remedy for cramps as well.

#47: We eat 600 more calories than we did in the 70s. There are a few key reasons why this is the case. The most significant cause is the larger portion sizes we consume as a culture. Add to that the higher prevalence of fast food and less physically-demanding jobs, and you can see where the rise in overweight and obesity comes in.

#48: A Lego will pass through your body in two days. A study in 2018 asked volunteers to ingest a Lego head and see what happens. It took an average of 1.71 days for the volunteers to pass the piece. If you thought stepping on a Lego was painful, imagine this.

#49: Skin is an indication of high cholesterol. Uneven yellow patches on the eyelids and around the eyes have been linked with high levels of cholesterol. High cholesterol can lead to fatal events like heart attacks.

Cholesterol levels can be controlled with a healthy diet and exercise, something Noom can help you with. By tracking your choices and learning how to choose healthy foods, you’ll be well on your way.

#50: An antihistamine can eliminate eye bags. Dark circles around and under your eyes can be eliminated by sleeping well, drinking plenty of water, and eating well. They can also go away if you take an antihistamine before bed. As a bonus, these medicines also lead to drowsiness, which will help you fall asleep faster!

#51: Sadness can cause neck issues. Sadness can cause problems in your shoulders and neck even if you don’t have a physical injury. Chronic pain was linked to being sad, and it’s largely due to the additional levels of stress.

#52: You can 3D print a human heart. Not you, specifically, but in 2019 doctors successfully 3D printed a miniature human heart. They speculated that means that they can also print a full-sized human heart that functions.

Health Facts: Rapid Fire Round

If one health fact a week isn’t enough for you and you’re looking for some extra facts, stay tuned. This is the rapid-fire round where you’ll get presented with a ton of health facts. Take a look at these facts to ensure you learn something new every day. More importantly, try to work some of these facts into your daily life. Who knows what information could lead to the latest change in your routine?

Not enough exercise causes as many fatalities as smoking does.
More than 30% of the people in the world have a BMI over 30.
Within the past 15 years, life expectancy has risen five years globally.
In Copenhagen, 50% of all residents commute on a bike while less than 1% of people in America do.
America spends three times more on healthcare than any other country. Even so, the US ranks last in life expectancy as compared to the 12 wealthiest nations.
Learning how to play an instrument or speak a new language can strengthen your brain.
Reading can decrease your levels of cortisol, a stress-related chemical, by 67%.
If you want to improve your health, life expectancy, and memory, you can do so by keeping up healthy relationships with your friends and family.
Picking up on rosemary scent can improve your memory and give you an increased level of alertness.
Cursing when you’re in pain can help alleviate some of the pain.
When you write things down with a pen or pencil, you have a better chance of remembering them.
Yoga can help you by lowering stress and increasing cognitive function.
A walk outside can boost self-esteem and reduce how many negative thoughts you have.
Things like arugula, almonds, and avocado on a regular basis can improve fertility and libido.
Drinking tea daily can help you live longer.
While eating a meal might only take a few minutes, the digestion process can take hours to complete.
Men under the age of 50 need half the amount of daily iron that women of the same age need.
Apples might lower your level of bad cholesterol, which will keep your heart healthy.
Five significant components are improved with fitness: muscular strength, flexibility, endurance, how well you can use oxygen, and overall body composition.
One of the healthiest fats in the world is extra-virgin olive oil.
Your body is made up of more than 650 muscles.
If you want to lose a single pound of fat, you need to burn around 3,500 calories.
Muscle is three times better at burning calories than fat. That’s even true when you’re sitting still.
Partaking in regular activity can lower back pain’s severity and frequency (specifically your lower back).
If you run 12 to 18 miles a week, you’ll have a more robust immune system and more dense bones than if you don’t.
Regular exercise can add years to your life by keeping your DNA youthful and healthy.
Stretching is the easiest way to avoid injury before a workout. It will increase your blood flow and prime your muscles.
If you drink five glasses of water every day, you’ll increase your heart health by more than 40%.
A lack of water and dehydration hurts your energy levels and general mood.
Drinking water not only hydrates you, but it also helps your body maintain its pH balance.
Using plastic water bottles repeatedly can release harmful chemicals into your water and body.
The core of your spinal discs is made up of mostly water. Dehydration removes the water from these discs and leads to back pain.
Kidneys are responsible for filtering your blood upwards of 300 times daily, and they need water to do their job.
Drinking enough water is one of the biggest keys to keeping a fair complexion.
If you laugh 100 times, that’s the same as a 15-minute workout on a stationary bike.
Your mouth has more bacteria than the world has people.
You’ll burn more calories just by sleeping than you will by watching TV.
Right-handed people tend to live nine years longer than left-handed people.
In the morning, you’re 2/5” taller than you are at night.
You’ll eat around 66,000 pounds of food during your lifetime. That’s roughly the weight of 6 elephants.
In different parts of the world, some parents bathe their children in beer to help keep them healthy.
If you’re angry, heavy metal music might help mellow you out.
A single piece of bacteria can break down and multiply into eight million cells within 24 hours.
If you join a club like a knitting club or book club after retirement, it could extend your life.
The reason we sneeze is to get rid of cells that the body rejects.
A sneeze can travel up to 27 feet, and it spreads an average of 100,000 cells.
The average adult catches the common cold 2.5 times a year.
Scientists believe that our eyebrows are there to keep sweat away from our eyeballs.
Every cigarette will shorten your expected lifespan by about 11 minutes.
Foods like elk, spinach, crab, and oysters have been proven to make you happier and improve your mood.
Most doctors who work in an Antarctic station need to have their appendix removed before starting their job to avoid death from a burst appendix.
Talking on your cell phone impairs you more than having a blood alcohol level of 0.08.
Hitting your head against a wall burns about 150 calories every hour.
If you look at yourself in a mirror while running on a treadmill, it makes the workout feel easier and go by faster.
Our senses send messages to the brain at over 124 miles per hour.
Not enough water can result in allergies, constipation, and migraines.
Water helps you lose weight since it removes fat and makes you feel more satiated.
Water lubricates and energizes your muscles and joints.
If you brush your teeth right after eating or drinking, your enamel can get softened.
If you focus on how fun a workout is, you can lose more weight.
Pollution in the air can be worse inside than it is outside.
SPF50 allows 2% of UVB rays to go through your skin. SPF15 allows 7%.
Your phone’s blue light can destroy your sleep cycle.
Thinking about a vacation and planning, one will make you feel happier.
Cardio before breakfast might burn more fat.
Grass-fed meats, wild-caught fish, and free-range eggs are simple changes that make you eat healthier without a significant difference in what you eat.
Are you feeling stressed? Deep breaths can decrease your stress, increase your circulation, and lower your blood pressure.
The word “gymnasium” comes from “gymnazein,” a Greek word meaning “to exercise naked.”
One square inch of your kitchen has more bacteria than your bathroom.
Your nose can remember up to 50,000 different smells.
We have 46 chromosomes. Crayfish have 200, and peas have 14.
When you have an allergic reaction, your immune system sends a false alarm, thinking the allergen is a threat.
People who are left-hand dominant are more likely to have attention problems.
The eye muscles move more than 100,000 times a day, making them the most active muscle in the body.
Noses and ears never stop growing.
Men blink half as frequently as women.
You can cough up to 100 miles per hour.
The most sweat glands per square in on your body can be found on the soles of your feet.
Sweat is mostly water.
Your calf is the strongest muscle in your body as far as pushing is concerned.
Foods that are “cholesterol-free” can be bad for your cholesterol.
Standing in cold temperatures can reduce your allergies and inflammation.
Men’s hearts beat slower than women’s.
An average person won’t remember 90% of their dreams.
80% of your body’s heat escapes through your head.
Your stomach also turns red when you blush from embarrassment.
Fingerprints are created within the first three months of conception.
Your heart pumps about 48 million gallons of blood during your life.
Children grow faster in the spring.
You use 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile.
An average person speaks 5,000 words a day.
Your bones are about five times stronger than steel.
From birth, your eyes never grow.
Only 1 out of 2,000,000,000 people will live to be 116 years old.
The most likely day to have a heart attack is Monday.
You can’t sneeze with open eyes.
If you’re flying on an airplane, your hair will grow two times as fast.
Your tongue has a pattern on it that’s unique to you.

Now you know more about learning. If your goal in 2021 is to learn something new every day, you’re off to a great start. Keep these health facts in mind as you work your way through the year, and remember never to stop learning.

If the 52 facts weren’t enough, you could leaf through the rapid-fire health facts to keep busy. The critical part to remember is that learning about health is easy to do. If you open yourself to the idea, you’ll find the information you’re looking for.

Learning about your health can be easier when you have a system like Noom that can help you keep track of your health statistics, food intake, and more. Let us help you take control of your health journey.