Want to live longer? A new research report from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health says studied data from 44,354 men over 27 years (and 78,865 women over 30 years) and found that adapting these five can lengthen life at age 50 by 12 years for men.
Quit Smoking
You’ve heard it before, but there’s a reason your doctor is telling you to quit smoking. It’s one of the simplest (albeit, not easiest) ways to extend your life!
Drink Moderately
The report recommends that men have no more than two 5-ounce glasses of wine per day. Most doctors recommend red wine because it has more health benefits than white wine, beer or hard alcohol.
Exercise Regularly
What exactly does “regular exercise” entail? At least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise. That doesn’t have to mean high-impact exercise, like running. Just do something to get your heart up and use weights or resistance when possible.
Eat Healthy
Good news! Even if you don’t eat perfectly, the report found that just being in the top 40$ of a “recognized healthful eating index” can be enough. Even your favorite foods are fine when eating in small amounts and infrequently.
Maintain a BMI under 25
Determining a healthy weight varies greatly by gender, body type and other factors. When in doubt, try to maintain a body mass index under 25.
As the report points out, lifestyle is behind 60% of early deaths in the United States. But even if you only adopt a few of the five healthy lifestyle habits, you’ll probably live longer.
The report found that for men, at the age of 50, men who didn’t adopt any of the five factors had a life expectancy of 25.5 more years. But the men who adopted all five factors had a life expectancy of 37.6 more years (age 87.6). The study found that the more low-risk factors men adopted, the lower the risk of early death.
