Want to add years to your life? Following a few healthy habits could do just that, according to a new study.
The observational study presented Monday at the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meeting in Boston examined data on more than 700,000 U.S. veterans and how their life expectancy shifted based on the number of healthy habits followed.
The findings? Adopting eight healthy lifestyle habits by middle age can result in a substantially longer life than those with few or none of the habits. Those habits include:
Being physically active
Being free from opioid addiction
Not smoking
Managing stress
Having a good diet
Not regularly binge drinking
Having good sleep hygiene
Having positive social relationships
While the habits aren’t groundbreaking — you’ve likely heard health experts advise similar wellness practices — the amount of lifespan expected to be gained from them is impressive.
According to the results, men with all eight habits at age 40 are expected to live 24 years longer on average compared with those with none. Women with all eight habits are predicted to live an 21 additional years.
These 8 habits could add up to 24 years to your life, study finds
