Feb 18, 2019 • Longeviti

Adopting 5 Healthy Habits Can Extend Your Life by as Much as 12-14 Years

People living in the U.S. have a shorter average life expectancy vs. those living in nearly all of the other developed countries.  It doesn’t have to be this way.

A study in the journal Circulation looked at five lifestyle factors influencing how long humans live and calculated that those adopting these five habits, lived considerably longer (women +14 years, men +12 years).

1. Limited alcohol consumption
2. Healthy body weight
3. High-quality diet
4. No Smoking
5. Exercise at a moderate-to-vigorous pace for 30+ minutes a day

Two studies—the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study tracked people’s lifestyles and general health for 30 years. Here’s what they found:

Healthy Weight

• People with a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18.5 and 22.9 tend to live longer

• Losing just 5-10 percent of your body weight significantly reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease

 Moderate Daily Alcohol Consumption

• Moderate Drinkers tend to live longer than Heavy Drinkers ( Moderate drinking for women = 1 drink, for men= up to 2 drinks)

• Unlike heavy drinking, moderate consumption appears not to cause severe damage

The smart move is to drink little or not at all.

High-quality Diet

• Poor diets have a direct influence on various factors including like blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and body weight. (No surprise, there!)

The best diet is something like the Mediterranean diet. Eating a variety of whole, unprocessed foods is also very protective of your health.

Not Smoking

• Smoking significantly increases your chances of lung cancer, COPD, heart disease. To live longer, quit (smoking or vaping)

Exercise

The study group exercising at least 30 minutes a day at a moderate to vigorous pace (including brisk walking) were at  lowest-risk for developing certain diseases later in life and thus had the potential to live longer.

Other benefits of regular exercise include

• boosted metabolism contributing to weight loss and weight stability
• support for the creation of new heart cells and increase in bone and muscular strength
• Elevating mood and/or reducing depression

12-14 more years of life?  We can do this!

We’ve heard this all before and we know making lifestyle changes can often be extremely difficult.

That said, it’s not only about how long we live. It’s about how long we live being able to do the things we love with those we love.

Your Longeviti Health physician is ready to support your journey as both ally and coach.