Modern medicine is unlocking the secrets of longevity.  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has published the results of a large study conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that analyzed the lifestyles and habits of over 120,000 Americans to determine the effects of five specific habits on longevity.

The results speak for themselves.  At age 50, women who adopted all five healthy habits could expect to live to 93 years of age, compared to only 79 years of age for women who adopted none.  For men, the difference was 87 to 75.

Even adopting the habits individually resulted in a significant lower risk of death from cancer and heart disease.

The five habits are:

• Maintain a healthy body weight – aim for a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9
• Don’t smoke
• Limit alcohol – Women should aim for 1 drink per day or less. Men 2 drinks per day or less.
• Eat healthy – Get the daily recommended amounts of vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and omega-3 fatty acids and limit red and processed meats, trans fat, sodium, and beverages with added sugar.
• Get at least 3.5 hours of exercise per week – Even moderate exercise will do

Medical professionals have been making these recommendations for years, but this is the first study that has definitively linked them to an increase in life expectancy.  Also worthy of note is the magnitude of the difference, at 14 additional years for women and 12 additional years for men.

Source

National Institutes of Health (NIH) – Healthy habits can lengthen life (2018)