A new study of more than 700,000 American veterans reports that people who adopt eight healthy lifestyle habits by middle age can expect to live significantly longer than those with few or none of these habits. The eight habits are: being physically active, not addicted to opiates, not smoking, managing stress, having a good diet, not drinking regularly, maintaining good sleep hygiene, and having positive social relationships.
According to the results, men who have all eight habits at age 40 are expected to live an average of 24 years longer than men without any of these habits. For women, having all eight healthy lifestyle factors in midlife was associated with a predicted 21 additional years of life compared to women without any of these habits.
We’ve been really surprised at how much can be gained by adopting one, two, three or all eight lifestyle factors. The results of our research show that adopting a healthy lifestyle is important for both public health and personal health. The sooner the better, but even if you make just a small change in your 40s, 50s or 60s, it’s still beneficial.”
Xuan-Mai T. Nguyen, a health sciences specialist at the Department of Veterans Affairs and a rising fourth-year medical student at Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Nguyen will present the findings at NUTRITION 2023, the American Society for Nutrition’s flagship annual meeting, July 22-25 in Boston.
For the study, the researchers used data from medical records and questionnaires collected between 2011-2019 from 719,147 people enrolled in the Veterans Affairs Million Veterans Program, a large, nationally representative survey of US veterans. The analysis included data from adults aged 40-99 and included 33,375 deaths during follow-up.
Overall, the results show that low physical activity, opioid use, and smoking have the greatest impact on life expectancy; these factors were associated with about a 30-45% higher risk of death during the study period. Stress, excessive drinking, poor diet and poor sleep hygiene were associated with about a 20% increased risk of death, and a lack of positive social relationships was associated with a 5% increased risk of death.
According to the researchers, the findings highlight the role of lifestyle factors in contributing to chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which lead to premature disability and death. The results also help quantify the extent to which healthy lifestyle choices can help people reduce their risk of such diseases and live longer.
“Lifestyle medicine is aimed at treating the root causes of chronic diseases, not their symptoms,” Nguyen said. “This provides a potential path to change the course of ever-increasing health care costs arising from prescription drugs and surgical procedures.”
The expected increase in life expectancy from adopting the eight factors of a healthy lifestyle increased slightly with age, but remained significant, meaning that adopting healthier habits in older age can still help you live longer. “It’s never too late to adopt a healthy lifestyle,” Nguyen said.
As an observational study, the study doesn’t definitively prove causation, Nguyen noted. However, the findings are consistent with a growing body of research supporting the role of lifestyle factors in preventing chronic disease and promoting healthy aging.
source:
American Society for Nutrition