Longevity expert Dr Vass shares 5 non-negotiable evening habits for cardiovascular health

Habits like eating dinner early and having a fixed time for bed greatly improves the quality of rest one gets at night as well as their health, says Dr Vass.

It is the everyday habits that shape the life and health of individuals. Taking to Instagram on July 6, Dr Vassily Eliopoulos, a longevity expert trained at Cornell University and co-founder and chief medical officer of Longevity Health, shared five evening habits that one must follow to ensure their cardiovascular health.

“The last 90 minutes of your day matter more for cardiovascular health than the first 90. Most people get this backward,” he noted. “The cardiovascular system spends the night either repairing damage or accumulating it. Which one depends almost entirely on what you do in the 90 minutes before bed.”

“The pushback I get is ‘I don’t have time for an evening routine.’ This whole protocol takes 30 minutes if you do it in sequence. The trade is one episode of TV for years of healthspan.”

The five non-negotiable habits, as shared by Dr Vass, are presented as follows.

1. Stop eating 3 hours before bed

An early dinner is always the healthier option. According to Dr Vass, the last meal of the day should be consumed at least three hours before an individual goes to sleep to allow the body to utilise the energy consumed before going to rest mode.

“Late eating elevates fasting insulin the next morning by up to 30 percent,” noted the physician. “Your body cannot fully reset its glucose handling when you go to sleep digesting.”

2. Keep bedroom temperature at approximately 18°C

Sleeping on a cool bed is not just about the comfortable feeling; it is actually beneficial to cardiovascular health. Dr Vass suggests keeping the temperature at 65° Fahrenheit, or approximately 18°C. This is because the core body temperature of individuals should drop for deep sleep to happen.

“Most adults sleep too warm, not realising that that warmth is blocking their best sleep,” stated Dr Vass. “And bad sleep elevates every cardiovascular risk factor.”

3. Taking magnesium supplement

Dr Vass personally takes magnesium glycinate. 300 to 400 milligrams about 30 minutes before bed. Explaining its benefits, he shared, “Magnesium regulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls your heart rhythm while you rest. It also supports the deep sleep that clears arterial inflammation.”

4. Five minutes of slow breathing

Dr Vass suggested performing five minutes of slow breathing before sleep. Four seconds in, six seconds out. “This single intervention raises heart rate variability measurably. It also lowers cortisol and helps to shift you into parasympathetic dominance, which is when cardiovascular recovery actually happens,” he stated.

5. Maintaining consistent sleep timing

Maintaining a fixed time to retire to bed every night, including weekends, is one of the healthiest nighttime habits that one can follow. “Variable sleep elevates cortisol regardless of total hours,” noted Dr Vass. “This is the single highest-leverage habit in the evening stack.”

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.

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