JUST 11 minutes of extra sleep a night can significantly cut the risk of a heart attack.
A study also found that four-and-a-half minutes of brisk walking and eating 60g more vegetables a day can make a huge difference.
Scientists studied the sleep habits and exercise levels of 53,000 middle-aged UK adults via data from wearable technology such as smart watches.
The subjects also selfreported dietary habits.
The researchers found 2,034 major cardiovascular events — such as heart attacks or strokes — over an eight-year period.
The teams from Australia, Chile and Brazil found that for people with the least healthy lifestyles, who get less than six hours of sleep a night and do very little exercise, even small changes can help.
An extra 11 minutes’ kip, four-and-a-half minutes of exercise and 60g of veg every day could slash their risk of a serious heart condition by ten per cent.
Increasing their sleep to eight hours, doing 40 minutes’ exercise and following a good diet could cut the risk by 57 per cent.
Dr Nicholas Koemel said: “Combining small changes in a few areas of our lives can have a surprisingly large positive impact on our cardiovascular health.”
Emily McGrath, of the British Heart Foundation, said: “Changes don’t need to be big to make a difference.
“The key is a healthy lifestyle you can stick with.”
