Eating right and regular exercise are important, but new research makes clear that getting enough sleep is essential, too, particularly for avoiding heart disease, Cleveland Clinic Wellness reports:

Nearly 4,000 adults without known heart disease wore a device that tracked their movement and sleep for a week, and then underwent heart CT scans and ultrasounds. Researchers found that the participants who slept less than six hours were 27 percent more likely to have plaque buildup in the arteries (otherwise known as atherosclerosis) throughout their bodies than those who slept between seven and eight hours. And those who had poor-quality sleep were 34 percent more likely to have atherosclerosis compared with those who had high-quality sleep.

To improve your “sleep hygiene,” make an effort to go to bed and get up at the same time every day, avoid staring at electronic screens while you wind down, don’t eat heavily before bedtime, and limit your caffeine and alcohol consumption, especially at night. Aim to get between seven and eight hours of shut-eye, and you’ll be good to go!