The best way to reduce your risk, of course, is never to smoke at all - but if you do, experts advise quitting as soon as possible to minimize threats to your health. Prevents disease Healthy habits can reduce the risk of various diseases, including those that may run in your family. In addition to causing lung cancer, cigarette-smoking is associated with serious health problems including heart attack, stroke and mouth and throat cancers, making it a significant threat to longevity. Moderate drinking, according to federal dietary guidelines, means that women should have no more than a drink per day, and men should have no more than two per day. And while each person’s risk-benefit analysis depends on his or her family and medical history, research is increasingly supporting the idea that people should limit their alcohol consumption to avoid health problems and increase longevity. Last year, a large meta-analysis of prior alcohol studies concluded that there is no safe amount of drinking, because the net risks to a population - addiction, cancer, traffic accidents and so on - outweigh any potential benefits, such as improved cardiovascular and cognitive health. But recently, scientific opinion has begun to shift toward a more cautious stance on alcohol. Drinking only in moderationįor years, moderate drinking was touted as a harmless - and maybe even healthy - habit. life expectancy and is responsible for up to 186,000 deaths per year. Books by Sanjiv Chopra The Big Five: Five Simple Things You Can Do to Live a Longer, Healthier Life Buy Now The underlying promise of every exciting medical discovery, diet, and exercise program is the same: do this, buy this, or eat this and you will look better, live longer, and be healthier. A 2018 study found that widespread obesity shaved a year off the U.S.

Obesity is associated with chronic conditions including Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, all of which can shorten your life. Different foods give your body different nutrients, which are. A balanced diet includes all the food groups. Maintaining a healthy body weightĭiet and exercise habits help people maintain a healthy body weight, which the Circulation study defined as a body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9. All the food we eat can be divided into five groups. A recent study found longevity benefits associated with both life-long and later-in-life exercise. If you do opt for a more vigorous workout, some research suggests that team sports like tennis and soccer are best for longevity, because they encourage social interaction as well as exercise.Īnd if you don’t exercise now, you can still start. And a study published in January found that simply moving instead of sitting for 30 minutes each day could reduce early death risk by 17%. Even short bouts of light physical activity, such as walking and cleaning, increased the lifespans of older men and women in studies from 20, respectively.

Five things people do to live healthier