3 Simple Daily Changes Could Lower Your Risk of Heart Attack And Stroke

Many different factors play into your risk of a heart attack, stroke, and heart failure, and a lot of them involve lifestyle choices most people can do something about – including three small upgrades in sleep, diet, and physical activity highlighted in a new study.

Led by a team from the University of Sydney, the researchers behind the study wanted to look at how these three factors, in combination, affect cardiovascular health, after previous research had linked them to better heart health individually.

Based on an analysis of 53,242 participants with an average age of 63, the data showed that adding 11 more minutes of sleep, an extra 4.5 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and an additional quarter cup of vegetables each day was associated with a 10 percent reduction over eight years in the risk of major cardiovascular events, including heart attacks, stroke and heart failure.

While the study can't prove cause and effect, the data indicated a positive correlation between these three behaviors and lower overall risk – more evidence that a healthier life can start with some relatively minor changes.

"We show that combining small changes in a few areas of our lives can have a surprisingly large positive impact on our cardiovascular health," says nutritional scientist Nicholas Koemel, from the University of Sydney.

"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 behavior."

Data for the study were gathered through the use of wearable devices (for sleep and activity) and questionnaires (for diet). The researchers accounted for numerous other influential risk factors, including age, sex, and smoking and drinking habits.

The researchers charted lifestyle differences in sleep, physical activity, and nutrition (SPAN) against the risk of major cardiovascular events. (Koemel et al., Eur. J. Prev. Cardiol., 2026)

If you want something bigger to aim for, the optimal combination of behaviors was 8-9 hours of sleep a night, 42 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day, and a modest diet quality score.

That combination was linked to a 57 percent reduction in major cardiovascular events over the eight years of patient follow-up, compared to the least optimal health profile in the study.

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is something along the lines of a brisk walk, going up a flight of stairs, or carrying the shopping.

Diet quality, meanwhile, was ranked based on a higher intake of fruit, vegetables, fish, and whole grains, and lower amounts of processed meats and sugary beverages.

But our health is complex, and the three factors (sleep, exercise, and diet) also affect one another: Better exercise can mean better sleep, for example. So the new analysis gives researchers some useful fresh insight into how these healthier behaviors work together to affect disease risk.

"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," says epidemiologist and senior author Emmanuel Stamatakis, from the University of Sydney.

"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."

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Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death worldwide, and experts are continuing to uncover more about the contributors and risk factors involved.

There's an urgent need to better understand how major cardiovascular events are triggered and how we might be able to predict them with greater accuracy in the future.

We're at the stage now where many of the warning signs can be spotted early, and these latest findings add to our knowledge of how to minimize heart health risk in practical ways. Bundling some of these risk factors together reveals that smaller, more achievable changes can be helpful, too.

"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," says Koemel.

"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."

The research has been published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.