10 Interesting Facts About Your Heart

The human heart is an incredible muscle, responsible for pumping blood throughout your entire body, providing it with the oxygen and nutrients it needs and clearing waste that it doesn’t. Here are 10 mind-blowing facts about the human heart that you probably don’t know:

• On average, an adult’s heart beats 72 times a minute, 100,000 times a day and 36,000,000 times a year.

• A healthy human heart weighs only 11 ounces on average and can pump 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day.

• The beating sound of your heart is caused by its four valves opening and closing as it pumps blood.

• Your heart is a well-coordinated machine. The right side pumps blood into your lungs to pick up oxygen, while the left side of your heart receives the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it back into your body.

• A woman’s average heartbeat is faster than a man’s by almost 8 beats per minute. Women’s hearts beat 78 beats per minute while men’s beat at 70 beats per minute on average.

• Every cell in your body gets blood from the heart, except for your corneas. Because they have no blood vessels, corneas receive nutrients from tears and aqueous humor.

• Your heart has its own electrical supply and can continue to beat even when it’s separated from your body.

• Your heart distributes only 5% of blood throughout your body. Your brain and central nervous system distribute 20% while your kidneys do the most work, distributing 22% of your blood throughout your body.

• Nearly 75 trillion cells receive blood pumped from the heart.

• The largest blood vessel in your body, the aorta runs from your heart to your belly, carries the most blood and is about the same diameter as a garden hose.

You’re never too old or too young to start taking better care of your heart! Making healthy lifestyle choices at any age can help prevent future heart disease and potentially lower your risk for heart attack or stroke.