Small daily changes, rather than ambitious workout plans, can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study. Sleeping 11 more minutes and eating two additional spoonfuls of vegetables are enough, researchers said.
According to a study by Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis and his team at the University of Sydney in Australia, recently published in the European Heart Journal (EHJ), people who sleep less than seven hours can reduce their risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes by about 10.2% simply by sleeping an additional 11 minutes.
The research team analyzed eight years of follow-up data from 53,000 adults enrolled in the UK Biobank. The methodology used wrist-worn accelerometers to measure sleep patterns and physical activity in minute-by-minute increments — an approach considered more reliable than conventional surveys that rely on memory.
"The brief 11 minutes not only provides psychological reassurance but also serves as a minimum threshold at which the autonomic nervous system shifts from sympathetic to parasympathetic activity, lowering blood pressure," the research team said. The analysis suggests that increasing nighttime sleep — not short naps — by around 10 minutes can help restore vascular endothelial cells.
The threshold for physical activity was also low. Even without setting aside dedicated exercise time, maintaining just 4.5 minutes a day of breath-quickening daily activities — such as sprinting to a bus stop or quickly climbing stairs while carrying grocery bags — was enough to lower the risk of cardiovascular death, provided sleep duration was also adjusted.
The concept, which the team named VILPA (Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity), showed preventive effects similar to those of consistently performing 30 to 40 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each day. This means intensity and frequency matter more than the volume of exercise in maintaining vascular elasticity.
Diet, too, produced results through fine-tuning rather than a complete overhaul. Clinical analysis found that adding just a quarter cup of vegetables (30 to 40 grams, or two to three spoonfuls) per meal significantly lowered blood cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and inflammation markers (CRP).
The research team analyzed that easily achievable goals generate a sense of accomplishment, which in turn lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol and creates a nudge effect that leads to long-term lifestyle changes. This mechanism works in opposition to the stress caused by setting overly ambitious goals and failing, which adversely affects the autonomic nervous system.
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