Our body is as leaky as a basket! And that everything in our body flows so freely is essential for our health, says historian Ruben Verwaal. After all, without sperm and vaginal fluid we cannot reproduce each other and without the coagulation of blood a wound cannot heal. Talking about bodily fluids may not be the most popular topic of conversation, but it used to be talked about all the time. “QUOTE ABOUT THE PAST”
Ruben’s fascination for the moisture of man only came later in life. While writing his dissertation, the stories kept coming. So he decided to turn it into a book. ‘We have been doing research in medical history for a long time, but we still knew little about bodily fluids.’ With some red on his cheeks, dolf asks Ruud about his favorite juice. ‘It varies from day to day, lately I’ve been dealing with earwax. Why do we have that anyway, and how does it taste?’ It turns out, bitter. And that is precisely what works as a repellant of vermin.
‘The 17th century scientist Boerhaave also had a fascination for bodily fluids. He mainly examined blood, breast milk and urine. And chemistry experiments with that. ‘He wanted to know how the healthy body worked next to a sick body. To do this he carried out all kinds of tests. He then used it to make diagnoses.’ Urine that smells or tastes sweet is a clear sign of diabetes.
The book Blood, Sweat and Tears can now be read.
Watch the entire conversation here:
