Open Cardiovascular System on the body map
Body system
Cardiovascular System
Open the Cardiovascular System on the body map
The heart and blood vessels that move oxygen and nutrients around the body.
How nutrients support this system
Each nutrient plays a different part. Open a profile to follow the process, its sources and the foods that carry that nutrient.
- MagnesiumThe heart relies on electrical signals to coordinate its contractions. Magnesium-dependent transport of calcium and potassium contributes to that normal rhythm.
- IronRed blood cells carry oxygen around the body using hemoglobin, a protein that contains iron. That ties iron to moving oxygen through the blood.
Explore the scientific terms
Functions associated with nutrients in our reference-food profiles. System groupings are editorial and can overlap; they do not establish health outcomes from eating a crop.
- Normal blood coagulationBlood coagulation is the biological process that enables blood to form clots when needed.
- Normal heart rhythmNormal heart rhythm depends on coordinated electrical activity that regulates the timing of cardiac contraction.
- Hemoglobin and oxygen transportHemoglobin in red blood cells binds and transports oxygen from the lungs to tissues throughout the body.
Foods that carry those nutrients
Sources & references (3)
- Vitamin K: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary SupplementsVitamin K's role in normal blood coagulation and bone protein metabolism.Source details in the Atlas: Vitamin K: Fact Sheet for Health Professionalshttps://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminK-HealthProfessional/
- Iron: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary SupplementsIron's role in hemoglobin and myoglobin oxygen transport.Source details in the Atlas: Iron: Fact Sheet for Health Professionalshttps://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/
- Magnesium: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary SupplementsMagnesium's role as an enzyme cofactor and in nerve, muscle and heart-rhythm function.Source details in the Atlas: Magnesium: Fact Sheet for Health Professionalshttps://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium-HealthProfessional/