The Heart Guide to Your Heart

Amazing facts about the most important organ in your body.

- Your heart beats around 100,000 times every day and about 35 million times in a year. That means that during an average lifetime, your heart will beat an amazing 2.5 billion times!

- During your lifetime, your heart will pump about a million barrels of blood around your body. That’s enough to fill a massive oil tanker.

- In one day, your blood travels about 12,000 miles – that’s the distance from England to New Zealand!

- Make a fist with your hand. A child’s heart is about the same size as their fist, while an adult’s heart is the size of two fists.

- You can calculate your maximum heart rate by using the following calculation: 220 – your age. Your lower target heart rate is 60% of that and your upper target 85% of that. You should try to keep your heart beating at a rate between those figures while exercising.

- A giraffe has almost 40 litres of blood – ten times more than the average human. To pump that blood up its neck to it’s brain, the heart is far bigger, weighing more than 40 times more than a human’s heart.

And here’s seven simple ways to be good to your heart:
- Exercise more
- Eat less fatty foods
- Lower your cholesterol
- Reduce the salt in your diet
- If you smoke, stop
- If you drink, do so in moderation
- Take time out to relax