Doing Household Chores Could Scientifically Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease

Photo: Stocksy/Juri Pozzi
Taking the time to do household chores probably isn't something you look forward to. There is a pretty exciting perk to tidying up, though: A new study found that just 30 minutes a day of moving around, doing something as benign as cleaning, rather than sitting could reduce your risk of heart disease by 24 percent.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden analyzed the levels of physical activity in 1,200 participants over a 15-year period. During that time, it became clear that exercise in general can provide plenty of heart-boosting benefits, but low-intensity, mundane daily tasks can as well, simply because you're not being as sedentary.

It's clear that exercise can provide plenty of heart-boosting benefits, but so can the low-intensity, mundane daily tasks, simply because you're not being as sedentary.

According to what study author Ing-Mari Dohrn, PhD, said in a press release, a past study showed sitting for more than 10 hours a day could lead to a 2.5 times higher risk of early death than those who sit for less than 6.5 hours a day. That's why it's so important to take the very little time required to change those stats around.

On top of the benefits that come with doing a half-hour of household chores, researchers also found that just 10 minutes of higher-intensity training reduced the risk of death from heart disease by 38 percent and 30 minutes decreased it by a whopping 77 percent.

While wider research is needed in order to draw a direct correlation between the indicators, physical activity and low-intensity movement certainly won't hurt your heart. And, bonus, you'll check off some things from your to-do list in the process.

Here's the surprisingly healthy reason to sing your heart out in the shower. Or, find out how an ancient steam bath healed one woman's broken heart.

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