Whether you’re running from a bear, walking through the mall, or sitting and watching a movie your heart will faithfully pump oxygen rich blood to your body without you even thinking about it. Because it’s a vital organ for our survival, caring for it through good nutrition, exercise and reducing stress is essential for it to work properly.
Here are some fun facts that may surprise you about the heart.
- Happiness and a strong sense of emotional vitality help lower your risk of heart disease.
- People can suffer from a broken heart. A life situation can cause temporary heart failure.
- The average heart is a little larger than your fist.
- The Blue whale has the largest heart which weighs over 1,500 pounds.
- The first evidence that a vegetarian diet benefits the heart comes from the Bible’s Book of Daniel (600 BCE).
- Heart disease has been traced back over 3,000 years to Egyptian mummies.
- It Beats 100,000-115,000 times a day.
- It pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood a day.
- When we exercise it takes 10 seconds for the heart to pump blood to your big toe and back.
- A woman’s average heartbeat is about 8 beats per minute faster than a mans.
- The heart has its own electrical system which allows the heart to continue to beat when separated from the body.
- The corneas are the only part of the body that doesn’t receive blood from the heart.
- We have about 60,000 miles of blood vessels in our body.
- Blood vessels will wrap around the world 4 times.
- A well functioning heart will pump approximately 4 tablespoons of blood with every beat.
- Runners have 45% lower risk of heart disease or stroke.
So, now that you’ve learned some fun facts about the heart, remember one last important fact: Take care of your heart because it takes care of you!