20 Awesome Hearty Facts You May Not Know
Kick start your way into the heart of health! Know more about what gets you pumping!
1. The first heart cell starts to beat as early as 4 weeks.
Can you imagine a baby’s heartbeat after 1 month? How fast life is created!
2. Your heart is about the size of your closed fist.
Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve. This applies to kids too!
3. The heart weighs the same as a soda can or juice box.
It weighs about 8 to 10 ounces. Handy to know!
4. It beats 100,000 times a day.
Wonder who took the time to count before the ECG was invented.
5. In an average lifetime, it will beat more than 2.5 billion times.
This is a pretty amazing number to think about. How would you measure a life?
6. Your heart is a coordinated machine.
The right side of the heart pumps blood into your lungs and the left pumps it back into your body.
7. Each minute, your heart pumps 1.5 gallons of blood.
That is A LOT of blood. Not for the ‘faint-hearted’.
8. A woman’s average heartbeat is faster than a man’s by almost 8 beats a minute.
This is because the average woman’s heart is smaller than a man’s by 2 ounces.
9.The heart has its own electrical supply and will keep beating even after being separated from the body.
How amazing and creepy is that?!
10. Modesty brought on the invention of the stethoscope. Before it was made, doctors had to press their ears directly onto each patient’s chest.
Talk about awkward…
11. The blue whale has the largest heart in existence – weighing over 680 kilos.
Wow. Just. Wow. That’s like a cow or a very large camel. Wow.
12. Being more educated lowers your risk of heart disease.
Don’t stop learning!
13. Heart disease is your greatest health threat!
It is greater than breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.
14. Regular exercise is the most important key to heart health.
Best of all, it’s free!
15.Your level of activity is the greatest risk factor for heart disease.
Again, move as much as possible on a regular basis.
16.Excessive amounts of sitting increase risk of heart disease.
Even if you have a desk job, get up and walk around as much as you can.
17. Heart health depends on how you manage your diet, exercise routine and stress.
The power is in your hands!
18. Happiness and a strong sense of emotional vitality help lower your risk of heart disease.
Spreading good vibes all the way!
19. Depression can increase your risk for heart attack, especially if you’re a woman.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
20. Heart disease has been found in 3,000-year-old mummies.
This is why we need to keep track of our family history.
So there you have it! Twenty amazing facts about the heart! What fact surprised you the most? Can you think of something even more interesting?