Here is how these beneficial practices were identified and evaluated:
1. A healthy diet, which was assessed based on the reported consumption of foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, healthy fats, and omega-3 fatty acids, as well as foods such as red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened drinks, trans fats, and salt.
2. A healthy physical activity level is defined as at least 30 minutes a day of strenuous to moderate activity.
3. A healthy body weight is one with a body mass index (BMI) that falls within the range of 18.5 and 24.9.
4. Smoking—well, there isn’t such a thing as a safe level of smoking. Here, “healthy” meant not having ever smoked.
5. Moderate alcohol use, defined as 5 to 15 grams of alcohol per day for women and 5 to 30 grams per day for males. One drink typically has 14 grams of pure alcohol in it. That equates to 1.5 ounces of distilled liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of normal beer.
Does leading a healthy lifestyle affect anything?
As it turns out, positive behaviors have a big influence. According to this study, people who met the requirements for all five behaviors had notably, noticeably longer lives than people who did not, 14 years for women and 12 years for males (if they had these habits at age 50). None of these actions significantly raised the likelihood of developing cancer or cardiovascular disease in a young adult.
Researchers from the research also calculated the expected lifespan using participant prevalence of these five beneficial activities. With the addition of only one positive habit (and it didn’t matter which one), the life expectancy of both men and women was raised by two years. It shouldn’t be a surprise that people lived longer when they engaged in healthier practices.
Source: health harvard
