Researchers came up with multiple small changes that can boost people's health
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Gaining an extra 11 minutes of sleep each night can drastically reduce the risk of a heart attack, a new study has revealed.
Researchers also found that ab extra four-and-a-half minutes of brisk walking as well as eating an extra quarter cup of vegetables every day can also improve cardiovascular health by around ten per cent.
The study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, saw experts from Australia, Chile and Brazil examine data on more than 53,000 middle-aged UK adults taking part.
Academics viewed people's sleep habits and levels of exercise through data from wearable technology like smart watches.
The researchers found that 2,034 major cardiovascular events occurred during an eight-year follow-up period.
They identified the "optimal" way people can avoid these incidents including a good diet, eight to nine hours sleep per night and a minimum of 42 minutes or more moderate-to vigorous physical activity each day.
Combining these measures leads to a 57 per cent lower risk of heart attacks and strokes, and also found the "clinically relevant" combination of behaviours people can do to reduce their risk, including more sleep, better diet and more moderate-to-vigorous activity.
According to the NHS website, moderate activity can include brisk walking, dancing, pushing a lawn mower, water aerobics and riding a bike.
Vigorous activity includes running, swimming, skipping and aerobics.
Dr Nicholas Koemel, lead author and research fellow at the University of Sydney, said: "We show that combining small changes in a few areas of our lives can have a surprisingly large positive impact on our cardiovascular health.
"This is very encouraging news because making a few small, combined changes is likely more achievable and sustainable for most people when compared with attempting major changes in a single behaviour.
"Making even modest shifts in our daily routines is likely to have cardiovascular benefits as well as create opportunities for further changes in the long run.“
"I would encourage people not to overlook the importance of making a small change or two to your daily routine, no matter how small they may seem."
Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, senior author of the study and professor of physical activity and population health at the University of Sydney and Monash University, added: "We plan to build on these findings to develop new digital tools that support people in making positive lifestyle changes and establish sustained healthy habits.
"This will involve working closely with community members to make sure the tools are easy to use and can address the barriers we all face in making tweaks to our day-to-day routines."