It is a common belief that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body. But is it true?
The tongue is a tough worker. It works round the clock – when we speak, when we eat and when we don’t do either, it is busy pushing saliva down the throat (even when you’re asleep). Besides, the tongue contains linguinal tonsils that filter out germs. Well, the idea about its strength probably comes from its tireless flexibility. But what’s the reality?
The first thing to understand about the tongue is – it is not a single muscle, but a combination of eight separate muscles. Tongue muscles are not supported by bones , rather they intertwine into a flexible matrix forming what is called a muscular hydrostat. This structure in elephants is their trunk, and in octopus, their arms.
Coming to the question of whether the tongue is the strongest scientists who studied this idea under various criteria found that there are other muscle/muscle combinations in the body that are stronger than the tongue. They include the jaw muscle, the external muscles of the eye, the heart muscles, the muscles of the uterus, the soleus (found below the calf muscle) and the gluteus maximus (the main extensor muscle of the hip).
Picture Credit : Google
