Researchers find the exact amount of extra sleep you need to prevent heart disease
Sleep. We all know it is important, but did you know not getting enough sleep could increase your chances of heart disease?
Not only that, but a new major study has found the exact amount of extra sleep you need, when combined with two other important factors, to protect yourself against cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the world's leading cause of death.
The study, "Combined variations in sleep, physical activity, and nutrition and the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events" was published this week in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
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Researchers have unlocked exactly how much sleep we need to avoid heart disease. Getty
The aim of the study was to examine the three major behaviours that are known to influence cardiovascular disease risk – sleep, physical activity and nutrition (SPAN).
Researchers measured the sleep, activity and diets of 53,242 participants, both men and women with a median age of 63 years, to look at the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and subtypes including myocardial infarction, heart failure and stroke.
They concluded that even modest differences in combined SPAN behaviour levels were associated with meaningful reductions in the risk of a major adverse cardiovascular event.
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Sleeping for just 11 minutes more is the key. Getty
But just how modest the lifestyle changes were might surprise you.
Researchers concluded that sleeping for just 11 minutes more, doing an additional 4.5 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and eating an additional one-quarter cup of vegetables was associated with a 10 per cent reduction in major cardiovascular events.
Researchers also found the combination of 8 to 9.5 hours a day of sleep, 40 to 105 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity and a diet quality score of 33–50 was associated with a 57 per cent lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events.
They also found that making improvements in each area was associated with substantially lower risk than changing just one factor.
Lead author and research fellow at the University of Sydney Dr Nicholas Koemel 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."
Forty ninutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was also recommended. Getty
Dr Koemel said that "making even modest shifts in our daily routines" is likely to have cardiovascular benefits.
"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," he said.
The study is the first in the world to investigate the minimum and optimal combinations of sleep, physical activity and nutrition necessary to improve the risk of having a major cardiovascular event, including heart attack, heart failure and stroke.
Sleep and physical activity was estimated using wearable devices while diet was assessed using a single food frequency questionnaire to calculate a diet quality score.
Researchers suggest increasing vegetable consumption by one-quarter of a cup. Supplied
Better quality diets involved higher intakes of vegetables, fruits, fish, dairy, whole grains and vegetable oils and a lower intake of refined grains, processed meats, unprocessed red meat and sugar-sweetened beverages.
Another senior author of the study, Emmanuel Stamatakis, a professor of physical activity and population health at both University of Sydney and Monash University, said they now planned to "build on these findings to develop new digital tools that support people in making positive lifestyle changes and establish sustained healthy habits".
Sleep, physical activity, and diet have previously been shown to have a major influence on cardiovascular disease risk, but were never before researched in combination of all three.
Studying the combined impact was important, because, for example, poor sleep disrupts the normal transmission of appetite hormones, influencing what people eat and making them more likely to overeat.
Meanwhile, physical activity improves sleep quality, but lack of sleep may reduce physical activity due to tiredness.
Diet also affects sleep and energy levels needed for physical activity.
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