Cycling for just FIVE MINUTES a day ‘reduces risk of early death from heart disease’

CYCLING for just five minutes a day could slash your risk of heart disease, and help you live longer, experts said today.

Two new studies have concluded as little as 30 minutes of pedalling may reduce the risk of suffering a heart attack - meaning leisure and commuter cycling could be an important public health strategy in the effort to reduce cardiovascular risk.

In a Danish study, 45,000 Danish adults aged 50 to 65 who regularly cycled had between 11 per cent and 18 per cent fewer heart attacks during a 20-year follow-up.

Meanwhile, those who took up cycling during the first five years the researchers followed them had around a 25 per cent lower risk of developing heart disease, compared with those who remained non-cyclists in the subsequent 15-year period.

Researchers also tracked the participants' overall exercise habits, activity levels and frequency of bicycle riding, along with heart disease risk factors, such as blood pressure, weight, cholesterol, smoking, diet and alcohol consumption.

Overall, there were 2,892 heart attacks during the 20-year follow-up - and researchers estimate more than seven per cent could have been avoided by taking up cycling.

The really good news here is that it’s never too late to benefit from an active lifestyle

Professor Paul Franks, Lund University

Dr Anders Grøntved, senior study author from the University of Southern Denmark, said: "Finding time for exercise can be challenging for many people.

"So clinicians working in the field of cardiovascular risk prevention should consider promoting cycling as a mode of transportation."

Lead author Kim Blond said: "Because recreational and commuter biking is an easy way to make physical activity part of one's routine in a non-structured and informal fashion, based on the results, public health authorities, governments and employers ought to consider initiatives that promote bicycle riding as a way to support large-scale cardiovascular disease prevention efforts."

The second study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, found middle-aged and older Swedish adults who cycled to work were less likely than non-cyclists to be obese, have high cholesterol, high blood pressure or pre-diabetes.

Researchers followed more than 20,000 people in their 40s, 50s and 60s over 10 years and monitored their commuting habits, weight, cholesterol levels, blood glucose and blood pressure.

At the beginning of the study, active commuters who cycled to work were 15 per cent less likely to be obese, 13 per cent less likely have high blood pressure, 15 per cent less likely to have high cholesterol and 12 per cent less likely to have pre-diabetes or diabetes, compared with those who used public transport or drove to work.

During a follow-up exam 10 years later, the portion of study participants who switched from passive commuting to active commuting also had an improved risk profile.

They were less likely to be obese, have diabetes, high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol, compared with non-cyclists.

After 10 years, those who continued to cycle or took up cycling at some point had a 39 per cent lower risk of obesity, 11 per cent lower risk of high blood pressure, 20 per cent lower risk of high cholesterol and 18 per cent lower diabetes risk.

Senior study author Professor Paul Franks, of Lund University in Sweden, said: "We found active commuting, which has the additional advantages of being time-efficient, cheaper and environmentally friendly is also great for your health.

"The multiple advantages of active commuting over structured exercise may help clinicians convey a message that many patients will embrace more readily than being told to join a gym, go for a jog or join a sports team."

He said that there was no minimum amount of time or distance required to reduce the risk of heart disease, even though people who cycled longer or more often experienced small additional gains in risk reduction.

Based on their findings, the researchers estimated that cycling or switching from passive commuting to cycling may have prevented 24 per cent of obesity cases, six per cent of hypertension diagnoses, 13 per cent of high cholesterol diagnoses, and 11 per cent of the cases of diabetes.

Prof Franks added: "The really good news here is that it's never too late to benefit from an active lifestyle.

"People who switched from passive to active commuting saw considerable gains in their cardiovascular health."