House chores can scrub out heart disease

VACUUMING and scrubbing the floor can be enough exercise to protect your heart and also extend your life.

Scientists found that 30 minutes of activity per day, or 150 minutes a week, reduced the risk of death from any cause by 28 per cent and rates of heart disease by a fifth.

But it was not necessary to run, swim or do a workout in the gym, said the researchers, writing in The Lancet.

Of the 130,000 people from 17 countries who took part in the international study, fewer than 3 per cent who achieved high levels of activity did so through leisure pursuits. In contrast almost 40 per cent of highly active participants benefited from commuting, having a physical job or doing domestic chores.

Dr Scott Lear, the lead investigator from Mcmaster University in Canada, said: “Going to the gym is great, but we only have so much time we can spend there.”