Maintaining five evidence-based healthy habits—eating a nutritious diet, exercising regularly, keeping a healthy weight, limiting alcohol, and avoiding smoking—can extend life expectancy by more than a decade starting in adulthood, reveals a major Harvard study. Women and men with the healthiest lifestyles were 82% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 65% less likely to die from cancer over roughly 30 years, compared to those with the unhealthiest habits.
Harvard researchers analyzed 34 years of data from 78,865 women and 27 years from 44,354 men in long-term follow-up studies. They examined five low-risk factors: never smoking, BMI of 18.5–24.9, at least 30 minutes daily of moderate-to-vigorous activity, moderate alcohol (5–15g/day for women, 5–30g/day for men), and a high-quality diet.
For those with none of these factors at age 50, estimated life expectancy was 29 years for women and 25.5 years for men. Adopting all five boosted it to 43.1 years for women (a 14-year gain) and 37.6 years for men (a 12-year gain).
People following all five habits were 74% less likely to die during the study period versus none. Each habit independently lowered early death risk, with the full set yielding the greatest longevity benefits.
