Five simple rules that can extend life by up to 10 years
An international group of scientistsow under the guidance of Harvard University researchers analyzed lifestyle questionnaires along with the medical records of 123,000 volunteers. They wanted to in this wayob learn about the impact of behavior on life expectancy. Based on these surveys, they identified five principles ktoThe device is the largest of its kind in the world.
The researchers conducted the analysis in hopes of understanding why the United States, whichore spending more on health care than any other nationod, rank only 31st. place in the world in terms of life expectancy. The results of the analysis appeared in the journal „Circulation” and suggest that poor lifestyle is a majorown factor thatory shorten the lives of Americans.
Overall, there is nothing new in the recommendations made by the researchers. However, what is surprising is the effect, or rather its length. According to the analysis, people whoore followed their diets, controlled their weight, exercised regularly, did not smoke and drank in moderation, lived more than a decade longer than those whoowho did not follow these recommendations. Although the study focused on the American population, the researchers say the findings apply to most of the Western world.
– When we started the study I thought it was obvious that people whooThose who adopted these five habitsow will live longer. But what was surprising was how huge the effect was – said Professor Meir Stampfer of Harvard University.
The data, whichore the researchers used came from a 34-year analysis of the Nurses' Healt Study of 78,865 women and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, whichohe 44,354 men participated over 27 years. During this time, 42167 of those studied died.
According to the researchersow, each of the listed health-promoting behaviors had health benefits, but the most benefit comes from following all five principles. According to the recommendations, adherence to an appropriate body weight was determined to be between 18.5 and 24.9 BMI. Alcohol consumption should not exceed a daily dose of about 300 millilitersoin wine for men and 150 millilitersoin wine for women. Physical exercise is a minimum of 30 minutes a day of moderate intensity. Meanwhile, when it comes to healthy eating, the researchers recommended a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat productsoin saturated and sugar.
When the scientists calculated life expectancy, they noticed a significant effect from healthy habitsow. In the porownaniu with individuals thatore did not follow any of the rules mentioned, men and women whooThose who preferred a healthy lifestyle lived 12 and 14 years longer, respectively.
50-year-old, whichory does not follow any of these five rules can expect to live another 25 years. For women, this rate rises to 29. For 50-year-oldoin those leading a healthy lifestyle, i.e., following all the recommendations, the rate increases significantly – for women to 43.1 years and 37.6 years for men.
– The principles of healthy living are well known, the mystery is that we find it so hard to follow them. People may think it is already too pot is hard to change your approach to life, but it turns out that when people change their habits, we see remarkable benefits – assessed Stampfer.