Humans’ desire for long life and eternal youth is as old as time. Throughout history, people from all walks of life have attempted to discover the magic elixir that can keep us forever alive and young. While no such magic potion has ever been discovered or created, researchers have found some secrets to longevity.

A 2018 research study published by Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that five habits can help increase the lifespan by 10 years or more. The researchers evaluated 27 years of data from 44,354 male and 34 years of data from 78,865 female participants.

The Five Habits That Can Increase Your Life by a Decade

If you want to live longer, adopt the following five habits and follow them religiously:

Eat Healthy

We all know that a healthy diet is essential to staying fit and healthy. But, did you know that poor diet is the cause of one in five deaths?

Unhealthy diet is one of the biggest contributors to health problems, like hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and even heart disease.

If you want to live longer, make sure your diet is comprised of whole foods and grains, fruits and vegetables, nuts, natural proteins, and minimally processed foods, for the most part. You may have a cheat meal occasionally.

Exercise Daily

Your fitness instructor may have told you that working out twice or thrice a week is enough, but Harvard researchers think otherwise.

If you want to live longer, you should be exercising daily for at least 30 minutes, as per the research findings.

If you’re a health enthusiast and workout rigorously, you may benefit from incorporating some muscle relaxation herbs into your routine. Check out our blog post The Most Effective Post-Workout Muscle Relaxation Herbs to learn about some great herbs you can benefit from.

Regular physical activity helps improve health, psychological well-being, and maintain a healthy weight, which is also a requirement for longevity.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

We all are well aware of the health problems and diseases that excessive weight can lead to, so it comes as no surprise that maintaining a healthy weight is critical to living a long life.

 If you follow a healthy diet and workout consistently, maintaining a healthy BMI wouldn’t be a big problem.

Say No to Smoking

Did you know that cigarette smoking causes 480,000 deaths per year? According to the CDC, smokers tend to live 10 years less than non-smokers, on the average. Now we know why Harvard researchers believed not smoking is essential to living longer.

If you smoke, it will be difficult to quit. But, it’s doable and the results are worth all the effort, pain, and discomfort.

Limit Alcohol Consumption

It is hard to not grab an alcoholic beverage when you’re out with friends, attending a social gathering, or enjoying Happy Hour.  But, you should keep a check on your alcohol consumption, not just to live longer, but also to lead a healthy and quality life.

Harvard researchers recommend women to limit their daily alcohol consumption to one 5-ounce glass. Men, however, can have up to two glasses.

The Sum Up

According to the research findings, women who followed these five healthy habits had the life expectancy of 14 more year than those who didn’t have a healthy lifestyle. For men, the difference was 12 years.

While no one and nothing can guarantee you a long life, these habits are scientifically proven to be the best ways to increase your chances of living at least a decade more than you would live otherwise.