Your heart is the center of your cardiovascular system. It is responsible for pumping blood through your body, carrying nutrients in and taking waste out.
Here are a few interesting facts about the human heart you need to know:
- The heart begins beating at four weeks after conception and does not stop until death.
- The average adult heart beats 72 times a minute. Doing the math, that is 100,000 times a day; 3,600,000 times a year; and 2.5 billion times during a lifetime.
- The volume of blood pumped by the heart can vary over a wide range, from five to 30 liters per minute.
- The heart can continue to beat even when separated from the body, as long as it has an adequate supply of oxygen that is because the heart has its own electrical impulse.
- 5% of blood supplies the heart, 15-20% goes to the brain and central nervous system, and 22% goes to the kidneys.
- Cocaine affects the heart’s electrical activity and causes spasm of the arteries, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke, even in healthy people.
Having known these facts, you can make a healthy-heart choice now by:
- Focusing on eating a diet of whole, unprocessed foods from healthy sustainable sources.
- Exercising regularly, incorporating high-intensity, interval type training.
- Optimizing your Vitamin D levels
- Getting enough high quality animal based Omega-3 fats
- Managing your stress through meditation, prayer, social supports or other emotional psychology tools.
