Harvard Reveals 5 Good Habits for Longer Life

Based on the 2018 knowledge from Harvard Medical School, they have advice on 5 good habits on lifestyle of how to Get the Key for a Longer Life.

Healthy lifestyle contributes to longevity. Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health conducted a massive study of the impact of health habits on life expectancy, using data from the well-known Nurses’Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS). This means that they had data on a huge number of people over a very long period of time. The NHS included over 78,000 women and followed them from 1980 to 2014. The HPFS included over 40,000 men and followed them from 1986 to 2014. This is over 120,000 participants, 34 years of data for women, and 28 years of data for men.

The researchers looked at NHS and HPFS data on diet, physical activity, body weight, smoking, and alcohol consumption that had been collected from regularly administered, validated questionnaires.

Healthy lifestyle habits can reduce the impact on risk of premature death. Just twist your lifestyle a bit to live longer!

• 

• 

Healthy Diet

To eat a variety of healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, healthy fats, and omega-3 fatty acids, and to be aware of those unhealthy foods like red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, trans fat, and sodium.

• 

• 

Healthy Exercise Physically

To do at least 30 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous exercise daily.

Healthy Body Weight

To have normal body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 24.9.

No Smoking

“Healthy” = never ever smoked again / keeping you away from cigarettes

Moderate Alcohol Intake

The measurement between 5 and 15 grams per day for women, and 5 to 30 grams per day for men. In general, one drink contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol. That’s 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.

According from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research, researchers studied data on age, ethnicity, and medication use, as well as comparison data. They found out that healthy habits make life huge difference. The analysis reveals that people who met all five habits enjoyed longer lives than those who had none: 14 years for women and 12 years for men (if they had these habits at age 50). People who had none of these 5 habits were far more likely to die prematurely from cancer or cardiovascular disease.

The study on life expectancy has got amazing findings that just one healthy habit from these 5 habits has extended life expectancy by two years in men and women. People with more healthy habits have longer lifespan.

This huge finding confirms prior similar research of 2017 study from the Health and Retirement Study. That study found out that people aged 50 and older who were normal weight, had never smoked, and drank alcohol in moderation level can live seven years longer in average. It further echoed to the 2012 mega-analysis of 15 international studies with over 500,000 participants that saying over half of premature deaths were due to unhealthy lifestyle factors just like poor diet, inactivity, obesity, excessive alcohol intake, and smoking.

Reference source :- Impact of healthy lifestyle factors on life expectacies in the US population. Circulation, April 2018; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, What is a standard drink; The population health benefits of a healthy lifestyle: Life expectancy increased and onset of disability delayed. Health Affairs, August 2017; The combined effects of healthy lifestyle behaviour on all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Preventive Medicine, September 2012; Changing minds about changing behavior. Lancet, January 2018; The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Final Determination regarding Partially Hydrogenated Oils (trans fat); The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act- An Overview