Heart: what is the best fuel?

We eat to fuel our body. But what if you wanted to build a strategy to build your heart?

How much energy does the heart need, anyway?

It may come as a shock, but you consume about six kilograms of adenosine triphosphate or ATP per day. Each cell needs about 20-30 million ATP cells per second. At any given point you have 0.7 grams of ATP, enough to pump the heart for 60 beats.

Once finished, your body will produce more ATP by using oxygen and combining it with the available energy to produce more ATP.

Of course, you do not consume ATP. You consume calories.

So how many calories do you need per day to fuel your heart?

Take me. I am sixty-two kilograms. My heart needs eleven peanuts ~ 90 calories per day.

You would ask if peanuts are the best way to fuel your heart?

Again, the answer may surprise you, but your heart loves fat as a source of energy. At rest, up to 70% of your energy for the heart comes from fat. The rest comes from glucose and lactate.

So much for the belief that fat is bad for cardiovascular health.

If there isnt sufficient fat available, it will switch to glucose and then muscle for its energy needs.

So what should you do?

Stop fearing fat. It is not your enemy as long as it is a healthy kind. Ghee, olive oil, sesame oil, coconut oil, to name a few.

You need to watch the amount. But that is true of everything. Even too much water can kill you. Teach your body to use all forms of fuel, preferrably muscle only in an emergency.

The best way to do that? Walk, long distances. Everyday!

Reach out to me on twitter @rbawri Instagram @riteshbawriofficial and YouTube at www.youtube.com/breatheagain