From breaking down the foods you eat to contracting muscles, the body is a complex, never-tiring machine.
One crucial component to your overall health and wellbeing is heart health. The heart is the central organ that pumps blood throughout your body, but what exactly does "good heart health" mean?
What do you need to know about your heart in order to stay on top of great heart health?
This article aims to demystify heart health and provide you with a general understanding of key concepts so you can protect your most vital muscle.
Cardiovascular System
To start, it's important to understand what the cardiovascular system is and what it does.
The circulatory system consists of the heart, blood, blood vessels, and lungs. These structures work together and act as a superhighway throughout the body to deliver blood, and with it oxygen, nutrients, and signalling molecules to cells while hustling carbon dioxide and waste products away from key organs.
Below is a breakdown of each component in the circulatory system.
Heart
The heart is a muscular organ that's hollow and contains four chambers, each of which play a role in pumping blood throughout the body. The heart works by letting blood into these chambers and coronary arteries sequentially, where it then contracts and forces blood out of the heart and through the lungs or to the body.
The heart is always working and pumping to provide necessary blood flow, blood pressure, and oxygenation to organs and tissues. Plaque can contribute to solid formations in these chambers, arteries and your blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart disease and conditions like coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, and other heart issues.
Your heart beats over 85,000 times per day, and over 31 million every year. It's clearly an important organ.
Blood Vessels and Blood
Blood is made up of many components — red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, and platelets. Blood acts as the means of transport for many substances throughout the body; this includes the nutrients you get when you eat, as well as oxygen for muscle tissues.
Blood vessels, also known as your vasculature system, might be thought of as the roads, highways, and small neighborhood streets through which blood travels. It's the delivery apparatus for most essential elements to your physiology.
Your vasculature also serves an important role in your ability to attain an erection. This illustrates the importance of cardiovascular health in men’s sexual health. (We’re a men’s telehealth platform — what kind of info did you expect?)
Lungs
The lungs are an integral part of your cardiovascular system as they are the key organ that enables blood oxygenation. The cells in your body require oxygen to perform, and red blood cells are how this molecule is delivered to the cells of your body. Additionally, these same cells expel carbon dioxide as a byproduct, transported away by blood.
The lungs act as a center for gas exchange where carbon dioxide is expelled from the body and oxygen is taken from the air. Each inhale provides oxygen to your blood while each exhale rids the blood of carbon dioxide.
Heart Health Metrics To Know
When you hear heart health, you most likely think of terms like pulse, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, blood glucose, good cholesterol, bad cholesterol, and more.
While an unhealthy heart may ultimately result in a heart attack, with symptoms like chest pain, jaw discomfort, and nausea, heart health tends to decline far in advance of these and other acute symptoms.
The metrics used to measure heart and cardiovascular function could be heading the wrong direction without you ever noticing. These terms can be confusing, so below is a breakdown of the most common so you can spot risk factors early.
Pulse
Pulse is a metric that simply describes how often the heart is contracting. Pulse is measured in beats per minute.
Pulse is broken down further into resting and active rates, as active exercise requires increased heart contractions to provide enough oxygen for hard-working muscles. Your heart will be more active when you are physically active.
A normal pulse range for a resting heart rate can be anywhere between 60-100 beats per minute.
While pulse is limited in what it can tell you about heart health, generally a lower resting pulse means that your cardiovascular system is more efficient, and your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to supply the body with much-needed oxygen. You’ll typically see lower resting heart rates in athletes, especially runners.
Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is a more complex metric for heart health, but it is one of the most important.
Blood pressure is a measure of how much force is being exerted on your arteries when your heart beats as well as when it's relaxed. A tool known as a sphygmomanometer can determine these two measurements.
Blood pressure is expressed in a pressure unit known as millimeters of mercury (mmHg), and a healthy measurement is generally below 120/80 mmHg. The first number is your systolic blood pressure, and the second diastolic: they represent pressure when your heart is contracting and at rest, respectively (the two phases of a heart beat).
High blood pressure can be dangerous if left unchecked and can be a warning sign of other cardiovascular conditions. Regularly checking your blood pressure is an ideal way to stay on top of your heart health, which is why it’s one of the most commonly checked vital signs at any healthcare appointment.
Supporting Your Heart Health
Maintaining good heart health is all about eating healthy foods, getting routine physical exercise, and living a generally healthy active lifestyle. Optimal heart health supports your heart in running smoothly for the decades to come.
Poor heart health can result from a number of factors, including smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, an unhealthy diet, and more. These actions all act to the detriment of your heart health because they can impede the flow of blood through the blood vessels of the body and can contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Quality heart health practices for longevity will involve:
- regular exercise
- a quality diet based on whole and minimally processed foods
- avoiding detrimental substances like alcohol and nicotine
- stress management
Supplements like beta-glucans and fish oils have the potential to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Still, you should do everything in your power to reduce the causative and risk factors in your lifestyle. Your dietary plan, for example, should contain whole grains, fiber, vitamins and minerals, and omega-3s. Look to fatty acids in fatty fish like mackerel, salmon, and tuna, as well as olive oil, and ditch artery-clogging, deep-fried foods in lieu of healthier choices. Don't neglect your fruits and vegetables.
The Takeaway
Heart health is an important aspect of overall health as one of the organs most central to longevity. From your ability to perform at the gym to your ability to perform in the bedroom, supporting great heart and cardiovascular health is crucial.
Sources
Heart rate: What's normal? | Mayo Clinic
High Blood Pressure Symptoms and Causes | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov).
Know Your Risk for Heart Disease | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov)
