People who adopt healthy habits by middle age can expect to live longer than those who don't, new research shows

These 8 Healthy Habits Could Help You Live Decades Longer, New Research Shows The eight habits include: Being active, free from opioid addiction, not smoking, managing stress, having a good diet, not binge drinking, practicing good sleep hygiene, and having positive relationships

People who adopt healthy habits by middle age can expect to live longer than those who don't, new research shows

• People who adopt eight healthy lifestyle habits by middle age can expect to live longer than those who don’t, new research shows.
• The eight healthy habits include: Being physically active, free from opioid addiction, not smoking, managing stress, following a good diet, not regularly binge-drinking, practicing good sleep hygiene, and having positive social relationships.
• Though adopting the habits earlier is better, adopting healthy habits can still benefit people into their 40s, 50s, and 60s.

People who adopt eight healthy lifestyle habits by middle age can significantly extend their lives, compared to those who adopt none or only a few of the habits, researchers say.

Being physically active, free from opioid addiction, not smoking, managing stress, following a good diet, not regularly binge drinking, practicing good sleep hygiene, and having positive social relationships are the eight keys to a longer life, according to a new study presented Monday at NUTRITION 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition.

Though the research is considered preliminary, the findings suggest that men and women who engage in all eight healthy habits can expect to live substantially longer—more than two decades longer—than people who engage in none of those habits.

“We were really surprised by just how much could be gained with the adoption of one, two, three, or all eight lifestyle factors,” presenting study author Xuan-Mai T. Nguyen, health science specialist at the Department of Veterans Affairs and rising fourth-year medical student at Carle Illinois College of Medicine, said in a news release.

“Our research findings suggest that adopting a healthy lifestyle is important for both public health and personal wellness,” Nguyen added. “The earlier the better, but even if you only make a small change in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, it still is beneficial.”

How Healthy Habits Can Lengthen Lifespan

For the study, researchers sought to estimate mortality risk and longevity associated with certain lifestyle factors by looking at data from more than 700,000 U.S. veterans enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Million Veteran Program.

The information used included medical records and questionnaires collected between 2011–2019 for adults aged 40–99. The data for the years collected showed that 33,375 people died over the course of the study.

Low physical activity, opioid use, and smoking were shown to have the biggest impact on a person’s lifespan—those three factors were associated with a 30–45% higher risk of death during the study period.

High stress, binge-drinking, poor diet, and poor sleep hygiene were each associated with about a 20% higher risk of death, while lacking positive social relationships was linked to a 5% increased risk of death.

Meanwhile, people who had a combination of eight healthy lifestyle habits saw a 13% reduced risk of death. All told, both men and women who adopted the eight lifestyle habits by the time they were 40 years old could expect to gain 23.7 or 22.6 years of life expectancy, respectively.

Though the study was observational and doesn’t prove causality, researchers said the findings support existing theories of lifestyle medicine, which has been proposed as a potential way to address the root causes of chronic diseases and their associated healthcare costs.

Lifestyle medicine takes a preventative approach, aiming to address habits that contribute to chronic disease in order to prevent them from occurring while improving health outcomes, lowering costs, improving patient satisfaction, and advancing health equity.

“Lifestyle medicine is aimed at treating the underlying causes of chronic diseases rather than their symptoms,” Nguyen said in the news release. “It provides a potential avenue for altering the course of ever-increasing health care costs resulting from prescription medicine and surgical procedures.”

Adding More Healthy Habits to Your Life

“It’s never too late to adopt a healthy lifestyle,” Nguyen said in the news release. Though people who added more healthy habits to their lives later on saw less of an increase in life expectancy, researchers said that adopting healthier habits well into old age can still help you live longer.

Though it’s often difficult to adopt new habits or begin a routine, research shows there are some tried-and-true ways to help a new healthy habit stick.

The first method is to create a SMART goal—that means a goal or habit that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Other helpful methods include asking for support from friends and family, tracking your progress, and rewarding yourself.

Another helpful strategy for adopting new habits is called “habit stacking”. Habit stacking is when you incorporate a new habit into or at the same time as something you already do on a regular basis. For example: If you are trying to improve the health of your diet, think about nutritious foods you can add to meals you already eat.

Lastly, it’s important to be patient with yourself and your progress. Research shows it can take weeks or even months for a person to form a new habit. In that case, it’s important not to get discouraged by any preconceived notions regarding timelines, and to instead focus on what works best for you.

This story originally appeared on: Health News - Author:Rebecca Jaspan, MPH, RD, CDN, CDCES