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Most heart attacks in men could be avoided by making five simple lifestyle changes, researchers claim.

Losing the belly, cutting down on alcohol, walking for 40 minutes a day, eating more fruit and veg and quitting smoking would drastically lower their risk, the Daily Mail reports.

A study of 20,271 men found that four out of five heart attacks could have been prevented by taking these five basic steps.

Even making one change reduced their risk by up to a third – and if they made all five changes, their risk fell by 86 per cent.

Stopping smoking cut the risk by 36 per cent and a healthy diet did so by 25 per cent.

Drinking less than three units – or one-and-a-half pints – a day led to an 8 per cent fall.

Having a waist measurement of less than 38in reduced the risk by 13 per cent, while walking or biking for at least 40 minutes a day cut it by 7 per cent. The more changes the men made, the greater the reduction in risk.

For example, if they ate a healthy diet and drank less, their risk went down by 35 per cent.

If they exercised, followed a healthy diet and reduced their drinking, it fell by 64 per cent, according to the study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The researchers, from Sweden, calculated that 80 per cent of heart attacks in men could be avoided through these changes.