Infographic: Which Lifestyle Changes Can Make You Live Longer? (2024)

Lifestyle and habits can have a big effect on our health - and our life expectancy. A recently released study that followed U.S. veterans of the age group 40 to 99 between the years 2011 and 2019 is attempting to show just how much.

According to mortality trends collected among 719,147 veterans and lifestyle factors assessed among 276,132, being physically active lowered the risk of death among the sample population the most - by 46 percent - opposite someone with no healthy habits and factors. The study applied the Department of Health's recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week as a threshold participants had to meet to be classified as physically active. Never smoking shaved off 30 percent off the risk of dying, while eating a diet that includes many plant-based foods lowered the risk of death by 21 percent. The recommendation here is to stick to healthy plant-based foods instead of just any.

Not engaging in frequent binge drinking and getting restorative sleep of seven to nine hours (by not undercutting the hours of one's usual sleep) could be expected to lead to a mortality risk decrease of 18 and 19 percent, respectively, according to the study. Having positive social interactions lowered the risk of dying by just 5 percent.

The study also shows how combining different lifestyle factors can add up. Adopting just one led to a lower mortality risk in the study group of 26 percent on average. Adopting six positive habits even led to a decrease of 73 percent. The study also included the factors depression/anxiety and opioid addiction. Being free of either was associated with a decrease in mortality of 29 percent and 38 percent, with opioid disorder therefore scoring lower as a harmful behavior than physical inactivity. Adopting or being free of all eight factors was associated with a lower risk of dying of 87 percent.