8 Healthy Habits to Help You Live Longer

The path toward a longer, more fulfilling life lies in embracing healthy lifestyle habits, which allow folks to increase their vitality and longevity. A preliminary study funded by the VA examined 719,147 participants aged 40-99 years old to assess what lifestyle factors can help people to live longer. The results of the study showed that people who adopt eight particular lifestyle habits by middle age have a significantly longer life expectancy than those who don’t (Nguyen, 2023).

8 Healthy Habits

• Being physically active

• Using stress management techniques

• Practicing good sleep hygiene

• Not smoking

• Being free from opioid addiction

• Avoiding binge drinking

• Having positive social relationships

Interestingly, this preliminary research indicates that engaging in all eight of these habits can increase longevity by over two decades compared to people who don’t engage in any of these habits (Nguyen, 2023). The three most harmful habits were shown to be smoking, low physical activity, and opioid use, which were associated with a 30-45% increased mortality risk (Nguyen, 2023). While further research is needed to prove causality, the findings of the study corroborate the existing lifestyle medicine theory, which suggests that people can engage in certain lifestyle habits as a way to prevent or manage the development of chronic diseases and advance health equity. This study focuses on early adoption of healthy habits, but it’s important to note that adopting healthy lifestyle habits can positively impact one’s quality of life at any age - it’s never too late.

Reference

Nguyen, X.-M. (2023, July 24). Eight Modifiable Lifestyle Factors Associated With Increased Life Expectancy Among 719,147 U.S. Veterans. Nutrition 2023 Conference. https://nutrition2023.eventscribe.net/index.asp?presTarget=2435709