A health study found that a healthy lifestyle can increase life expectancy by 10 years for women and seven years for men, free of cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
There are many recommendations including regular exercise, moderate alcohol consumption, healthy weight, healthy diet, and not smoking.
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What is a healthy lifestyle?
Participants in the study were asked if they practised four of the following five things when they were 50 years old.
• I never smoked
• Healthy and balanced diets
• 30 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity
• BMI size (a measure of weight for height) is between 18.5 and 24.9.
• Absence of drinking more than a small glass of wine for women and about half a litre of beer for men.
Fruits and vegetables are important in a healthy diet.
Why is there a difference between men and women?
It may have to do with the fact that women live longer on average than men.
Participants in this study were healthy men and women who had never smoked.
It may have to do with the fact that women live longer on average than men.
Participants in this study were healthy men and women who had never smoked.
The study found that men and women who smoked more than 15 cigarettes a day and were obese (those with a BMI over 30) were less likely to live disease-free lives.
But there are some things in common between the two polarities. Adopting a healthy lifestyle not only reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes but also improves the life expectancy of these men and women when they are diagnosed with other diseases.
Why focus only on these diseases?
Cancer, heart disease and diabetes are the most common diseases in old age. They are closely related to people's lifestyles.
For example, being overweight or obese has been found to be associated with 13 different types of cancer, including breast cancer, bowel cancer, kidney, liver and oesophagal cancer.
Some cancers are closely related to lifestyle factors such as obesity.
Cancer Research UK has found that four in 10 cancer patients could avoid it if they changed their lifestyle. It also indicates that you can do things like reduce your consumption of processed meats, eat more high-fibre foods, and protect your skin from the sun.
Do other factors influence it?
This is a large-scale observational study. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that these lifestyles are direct factors in prolonging a disease-free life.
An attempt was also made to know other factors. Family medical history, genetic background, and age are also thought to influence these results.