Although Valentine's Day made us believe in very different information, our hearts are actually boring brown. Why is the blood red? Let's find out the real reason.
The most pressing question for many
There are many organs in our body that have a wide variety of colors. For example, we have bright pink lungs, brown liver and gray brain. And by the way, red blood flows through your veins and arteries. Each of us has probably wondered more than once why the blood is red. We have the answers for you.
What is blood really?
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Human blood is not just a liquid. It contains many different elements that distribute nutrients throughout the body and fill our tissues with oxygen. Basically, our blood consists of plasma, in which blood cells (shaped elements) are suspended, and any substances that are carried (in addition to oxygen) dissolve here. Plasma is the most important component of this important liquid and is very pale in color with a yellow tinge. But as soon as the shaped elements dissolve in it, it abruptly changes its color and becomes slightly unclear. The most common type of blood cells found in plasma are red blood cells, which contain a protein called hemoglobin.
What is the truth about the color of blood?
It is generally accepted that it is the iron found in hemoglobin that gives our blood this red color, but everyone who thinks so is very much mistaken. The red color is formed due to heme - a special pigment that is part of hemoglobin and contains iron ions. Oxygen, in turn, combines with iron, and it is this interaction that makes our blood red. Other constituents of blood cells do not affect its color in any way.
Light or dark?
If hemoglobin contains high levels of oxygen, then it will reflect certain lines of light waves, absorbing all others, and thus give the blood a bright red color. If it contains less oxygen, then the reflected waves will be slightly different, the blood will become slightly darker.
What about blue blood?
As for people of aristocratic origin, the so-called personalities of blue blood, they have almost the same red liquid as everyone else. But with hypoxia (dangerously low oxygen levels in the blood), the reflected light wavelengths reach a violet hue at the end of the spectrum. And then through the skin you can see the blue veins.
Victoria Ivashura