American scientists named eight habits capable of extending life by 24 years

“There is a 20-year period in which you can make these changes, whether you do it gradually or all at once,” says study lead author Xuan-Mai Nguyen, Medical Science Specialist for the One Million Veterans Program in Boston Health System.

“We also did an analysis to see if we rule out people with type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, stroke, cancer and the like, would that change the outcome? And it didn’t really happen, she said. “So if you’re starting with a chronic condition, making changes will still help.”

“What are these magical healthy habits?” CNN replies to this question: “Nothing you haven’t heard about before: exercise, eat a healthy diet, reduce stress, sleep well, and maintain positive social relationships. On the other hand, don’t smoke, drink too much, and don’t become addicted to opioids.”

“The sooner the better, but even if you make only small changes in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, it’s still beneficial,” Nguyen says. “It’s not something out of reach – it’s actually something within the reach of the general population.”

The study, presented Monday at the American Nutrition Society’s Nutrition 2023 annual meeting, looked at the lifestyles of nearly 720,000 US military veterans aged 40 to 99. They were all part of the Million Veterans Program, a longitudinal study of the health status of US veterans.

According to Nguyen, adding just one healthy lifestyle to a man’s life at age 40 provided an additional 4.5 years of life. The addition of the second led to an increase in life expectancy by seven years, while the adoption of three habits extended the life of men by 8.6 years. As additional lifestyle changes increased, so did the benefits for men, increasing life expectancy by almost a quarter of a century.

As Nguyen notes, women also saw a huge jump in life expectancy, although the numbers stacked up differently from men. The adoption of only one healthy lifestyle habit increased a woman’s life expectancy by 3.5 years, while two – by eight years, three – by 12.6 years, and the adoption of all healthy habits extended a woman’s life by 22.6 years.

“Doing all eight exercises had a synergistic effect, a kind of extra push to prolong your life, but any small change made a difference,” Nguyen emphasizes.

After adjusting for age, body mass index, gender, race and ethnicity, marital status, educational level and family income, the study found “an 87% relative reduction in all-cause mortality for those who adhered to all eight lifestyle factors compared to those who did not adhere to any,” Nguyen said.

“An important strength of this analysis was that the population was very diverse in race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status,” said senior study author and lead nutrition researcher Dr. Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. T.Kh. Chana and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The study could only show a link, not a direct cause and effect, and because it focused on veterans, the results may not apply to all Americans, CNN notes.

The study was able to rank eight lifestyles to see which provided the greatest increase in life expectancy.

#1: Topping the list is exercise, which many experts say is one of the most important behaviors anyone can take to improve their health. Adding that healthy behavior alone resulted in a 46% lower risk of death from any cause compared to those who did not exercise, Nguyen said.

“We looked at whether they were doing light, moderate or vigorous activity versus doing nothing and just sitting on the couch,” Nguyen says. “People who lived longer did 7.5 hours of metabolic equivalent exercise per week. Just to give you a guide, if you can walk up one flight of stairs without being out of breath, that’s four minutes out of 7.5 hours.”

This finding echoes findings from other studies that show that you don’t have to engage in extreme sports to reap the health benefits of exercise, although it’s best to engage in more vigorous activities that take your breath away.

#2: Opioid-freeness was the second leading contributor to life extension, reducing the risk of early death by 38%, the study found. This is a major concern today as the U.S. opioid crisis is a national “public health emergency,” the Department of Health and Human Services agency said.

The study found that quitting tobacco use reduced the risk of death by 29%. If the person was a former smoker, it didn’t count: “We did it to make it as strict as we could,” Nguyen says. However, according to experts, quitting smoking at any point in life brings great health benefits.

#4 The next step is stress management, which the study found reduced early mortality by 22%. Stress is rampant in the United States today, which experts say has devastating health consequences. And there are ways to change your mindset and turn bad stress into good.

#5: A study found that eating a plant-based diet increased your chances of living a longer life by 21%. But that doesn’t mean you have to be a vegetarian or a vegan, Nguyen notes. A key factor was following a healthy plant-based diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, rich in whole grains and leafy green vegetables.

#6: Quitting heavy drinking — that is, drinking more than four alcoholic drinks a day — has been cited as another healthy lifestyle habit that reduces the risk of death by 19%, Nguyen said. Heavy drinking is on the rise in the US, and it’s not just college students. Studies show that even moderate drinkers are at risk.

In addition, other studies have shown that drinking alcohol in any amount can be harmful to health, with the possible exception of heart attacks and stroke, and even this finding has been challenged. One study showed that even one drink can trigger a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation.

#7 A good night’s sleep — defined as at least seven to nine hours a night without insomnia — reduces early death from any cause by 18%, Nguyen notes. Dozens of studies have linked poor sleep to all sorts of adverse health outcomes, including premature death.

#8: A study found that being surrounded by positive social relationships increased life expectancy by 5%. However, loneliness and isolation, especially among older people, is becoming more common and worrisome, experts say.

“Five percent may seem small, but it’s still a reduction in all-cause mortality,” Nguyen says. “Every little thing helps, whether you choose to be physically active or make sure you have positive social support around you.”

A recent study found that people who experienced social isolation had a 32% higher risk of dying early from any cause compared to those who were not socially isolated, CNN notes. Participants who reported feeling lonely were 14% more likely to die early than those who didn’t.