It's clear now more than ever that living longer is heavily influenced by lifestyle choices like diet and exercise, but a recent unpublished study found that certain habits can add more than 20 additional years to your life.
The research, presented last month at the American Society for Nutrition's annual meeting, found that practicing eight healthy habits at age 40 was associated with an additional 24 years of life for men.
Women saw similar benefits from incorporating the practices in their lives at age 40, with 21 extra years added to their lives.
"We were really surprised by just how much could be gained with the adoption of one, two, three, or all eight lifestyle factors," said Xuan-Mai Nguyen, lead study author and health science specialist at the Department of Veterans Affairs, in a press release.
"The earlier the better, but even if you only make a small change in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, it still is beneficial."
Persons:
Xuan, Mai Nguyen
Organizations:
American Society, Department of Veterans Affairs