Extra 11 Minutes of Sleep, 5 Minutes of Exercise Lowers Cardiovascular Risk
Why this matters: health reporting relevant to everyday decisions and well-being.
Simple lifestyle changes, such as getting a few extra minutes of sleep and exercise each day, can improve heart health. Ryan Tuttle/Stocksy Researchers say that small changes in sleep, diet, and exercise can have a substantial impact on heart health. They report that modest changes, such as 11 more minutes of sleep per night and 5 additional minutes of exercise per day, can lower the risk of serious cardiovascular events. Experts say the findings are encouraging for people who can only make small adjustments to their daily lifestyle routines. Making small improvements in how much you sleep, what you eat, and how much you exercise can significantly reduce your risk of heart health issues, according to a new study. Researchers report that people who get 11 more minutes of sleep, add 5 minutes of physical activity to their daily routine, and eat a quarter-cup more vegetables per day can lower their risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke, by 10%. They added that people who have an optimal combination of lifestyle behaviors that include 8 to 9 hours of sleep per night, 42 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day, and a moderate diet quality score have a 57% lower risk of major cardiovascular events compared to people with the least optimal health profile. The researchers published their findings on March 23 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. They noted that their research was an observational study, so it cannot establish a definitive cause-and-effect relationship between lifestyle habits and cardiovascular events. They recommended conducting intervention trials to confirm their findings. The researchers said their study could help people adopt simple lifestyle changes to improve heart health. “We show that combining small changes in a few areas of our lives can have a surprisingly large positive impact on our cardiovascular health,” said Nicholas Koemel, the lead study author and a research fellow and dietitian at