This series of articles will introduce you to various parts of your body to help give you a better understanding and appreciation for what they do. With this awareness, I hope people reading this will be able to improve their health.

By Aharon Elkayam

The heart, like the brain, is among the most fundamental organs in the human body. Most everyone knows where it is located and what it does — pump blood. But there is so much more to this remarkable organ.

Hopefully, by the time you finish reading this, you will have a deeper understanding of — and appreciation for — this extraordinary muscle that keeps you alive every single moment of your life.

A gift that works without your thinking

One of the most astonishing things about the heart is that it works involuntarily. You do not need to think about it, remind it, or manage it. It just beats — roughly 100,000 times a day, over 35 million times a year, decade after decade.

Amazing, right?

Most of us never think about our hearts. Yet from the day we are born until the day we leave this world, the heart faithfully serves us without asking for recognition. Perhaps one of the healthiest things we can do is simply appreciate it.

The coronary arteries: Keeping the roads clear

The heart is a muscle, and like all muscles, it needs to be nourished to function. It receives its blood supply through a network of vessels called the coronary arteries, which wrap around the outside of the heart and feed its tissue with oxygen and nutrients.

As people age — especially those eating a diet high in processed foods, refined oils, and animal fats — these arteries can gradually accumulate fatty deposits along their inner walls, a process known as atherosclerosis.

Over time, this buildup narrows the arteries, reducing blood flow to the heart. The consequences can include chest pain (angina), shortness of breath, fatigue, and reduced stamina.

In more serious cases, a piece of that buildup — called plaque — can break loose and trigger a heart attack or a stroke.

The encouraging news: the research is unambiguous that a whole-food, plant-based diet can not only slow this process but actually reverse it.

The pioneering work of Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn has demonstrated that people who adopt a low-fat, plant-based diet can see measurable improvements in arterial health — without surgery or medication.

Think of this dietary approach as keeping the roads of your cardiovascular system clean and wide open.

The heart and emotions: More than a metaphor

When we say someone “died of a broken heart,” we often assume it is poetic language. But the science says otherwise.

Japanese researchers have documented a condition called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy — also known as “broken heart syndrome” — in which sudden emotional shock or grief causes a temporary but dramatic weakening of the heart muscle. The heart actually changes shape in response to extreme sadness or stress.

In severe cases, it can be fatal.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the heart has long been considered the organ most closely connected to the emotions — particularly excitement and sadness. Too much excitement (which in modern terms we call stress or overstimulation), or an excess of prolonged grief, were understood to weaken the heart over time.

Modern research increasingly supports this ancient intuition.

Studies have found that people who experience chronic anger, hostility, loneliness, or depression have significantly higher rates of cardiovascular disease.

Conversely, those who maintain close social connections, a sense of purpose, and emotional resilience tend to have healthier hearts — and live longer.

The takeaway: caring for your heart means caring for your emotional life, too. Nurture your relationships. Find outlets for grief. Cultivate joy.

The heart and blood pressure: Helping the pump

The heart’s job is to push blood throughout the entire body — from the tips of your toes all the way up to your brain. Getting blood down to the feet is relatively easy (gravity is a big help). But pushing blood up against gravity to the brain requires real force.

When the blood becomes thick and sluggish — often due to a diet chronically high in saturated fats and oils — the heart has to work much harder to move it.

Think of the difference between pumping water versus pumping thick syrup. The harder the heart has to push, the more pressure builds up inside the arteries. This is what we call high blood pressure, or hypertension.

The good news is that this is largely a lifestyle-driven condition — which means it is also a lifestyle-reversible one. A whole-food, plant-based diet is naturally low in the fats that thicken the blood and restrict circulation.

People who adopt this way of eating often see their blood pressure normalize within weeks, sometimes dramatically reducing or eliminating their need for medication (always in consultation with their doctor, of course).

Stress reduction is equally important. Chronic stress keeps the body in a state of “fight or flight,” which constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure. Practices like relaxing breathing techniques, meditation, tai chi, and other forms of gentle exercise all help bring the nervous system back into balance — and with it, healthy blood pressure.

But these practices have their limits if the underlying sources of stress remain unaddressed.

If you hate your job, no amount of tai chi will fully protect your heart.

So alongside these practices, look honestly at what is causing the stress in your life and take steps to change it.

Movement: Strengthening the muscle

The heart is a muscle, and like any muscle, it responds well to regular, appropriate use.

Moderate exercise — walking, swimming, or cycling — strengthens the heart over time, improves circulation, and helps the cardiovascular system work more efficiently.

The key word is moderate. As I’ve discussed in my article “E is for Exercise,” more is not always better.

Overexercising can actually put undue strain on the heart, particularly in people who are already depleted or stressed. Aim for movement that leaves you feeling energized, not exhausted.

A daily walk is one of the best gifts you can give your heart.

Breathing: The free medicine

Here is something most people don’t realize: how you breathe directly affects your heart. Slow, deep, nasal breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system — the “rest and digest” mode — which lowers heart rate and reduces blood pressure. Shallow, rapid mouth breathing does the opposite.

Taking a few minutes each day for intentional deep breathing — inhaling slowly through the nose, expanding the belly — is one of the simplest and most effective things you can do for cardiovascular health.

Sleep: When the heart recovers

Sleep is when the body repairs itself — and the heart is no exception. During deep sleep, heart rate and blood pressure drop, giving the cardiovascular system a chance to rest and recover. Chronically poor sleep is associated with higher rates of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

If you are not sleeping well, it is worth treating this as a health priority — not just a minor inconvenience. Address the causes: stress, screen time before bed, irregular hours, or poor diet. Your heart needs that nightly rest just as much as you do.

The whole picture

The heart is extraordinary — not just as a biological machine, but as a reflection of how you live. What you eat, how you move, how you breathe, how you sleep, and perhaps most importantly, how you love and connect with others — all of it shows up in this one remarkable muscle.

Treat it with the care and gratitude it deserves, and it will faithfully return the favor, beat by beat, for many years to come.

Until next time, wishing you good health and a happy, healthy heart.

Aharon Elkayam, M.S., is a practitioner trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine and functional medicine, with clinical internships in the U.S., Taipei, and Beijing. He has spent over a decade in clinical practice as an acupuncturist, herbalist, and functional medicine practitioner, with more than 10,000 patient visits, and now focuses on guiding people in improving their diet as a health coach. He can be reached at [email protected] or visit his website at aharonelkayam.com.