6 Awesome Things Women's Bodies Can Do

Sometimes women get bogged down in body image issues. We focus on what our bodies can't do, how they don't look and how we wish they looked. In the process, we lose sight of everything they are capable of and how downright incredible they are, imperfections and all.

Here's a reminder of six of the totally awesome things women's bodies can do.

And if you think of any big causes for celebration we left off the list, let us know in the comments.

1. Create Life

Yes, it's obvious. But it's also so incredible, we can't leave it off the list: Women's bodies are capable of growing other people and then ushering them into the world.

Lots of specific things happen during pregnancy in order to help babies along - each of them mind-blowing in their own right. For example, women's bodies grow a whole new organ (the placenta), which provides oxygen and key nutrients and also eliminates waste. Plus, overall maternal blood volume increases by up to 50 percent, while the amount of blood pumped by a pregnant woman's heart every minute increases by between 30 and 50 percent, the Mayo Clinic explains.

2. Make Food

Again, another one that's pretty obvious, but too incredible to ignore: Women's bodies make their own food. And not just any food, but, like, the original superfood. Breast milk and colostrum - the thick, yellow fluid women make early-on before their full milk comes in - is rich in nutrients and antibodies that can help babies fight off infection and disease for weeks, months and even years to come.

3. Have Multiple Orgasms

Media coverage of women and sex often focuses on the elusive female orgasm. Less touted (celebrated?) is the fact that many women are capable of achieving multiple big-Os in a row. As WebMD explains, "Some women are capable of a rapid return to the orgasm phase with further sexual stimulation and may experience multiple orgasms." Men, on the other hand, "need recovery time after orgasm, called a refractory period, during which they cannot reach orgasm again."

4. Remember Things

The brain is the most complex part of the human body and a growing number of studies suggest that women's brains are particularly adept at remembering important bits of information. A 2010 study by researchers with the University of London found that 50-year-old women were better at recalling a group of words they'd heard minutes before than their male counterparts, whilea study published this June found that women were better than men at remembering faces.

5. Smell (Really Well)

Studies suggest that women have a strong sense of smell - stronger than men's overall. And that sense becomes even stronger just before or during ovulation. "Women have a better sense of smell, especially during ovulation when estrogen levels soar," Dr. Oz once told Oprah. A (slightly bizarre) 2008 study even suggested that women are capable of sniffing out men's sexual intentions by smelling samples of their sweat.

6. Survive

According to recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, women live roughly five years longer than men. Scientists surmise that much of that is because women are more likely to engage in healthier behaviors that impact longevity (like eating well, for example), but recent research also suggests that women's bodies have an innate ability to fight off infection and disease.

A Japanese study found that there was a slower rate of decline in key immune-related markers in women than in men, possibly because of how sex hormones affect the immune system, MSN reports.

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