If you think that how long you’ll live is based on how long your grandparents and parents live, you’re only partly right. While genetics certainly have an impact, you have more control than you might assume. “By the time you turn 55, only about 30% of how quickly you age is based on your genes, as compared to 50% when you’re younger—the rest is due to your lifestyle choices,” says Michael Roizen, MD, chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic. To figure out about how many years certain habits can add to your life, Dr. Roizen created the RealAge test, which uses data from hundreds of studies by groups including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics. With his help, we’ve gathered the most important habits and estimated how much longer each one may extend your life.
Add 2.2 years: Walk 30 minutes a dayThis is crucial to keeping your weight steady and lowering your risk of heart disease and diabetes, but fitting in a solid half-hour can be tricky. Just as good (and easier) is weaving in that 30 minutes throughout your day; wearing a pedometer can help you stay on track. Research from the Stanford University School of Medicine shows that people who wear one take an extra 2,000 steps (about 1 mile) a day. “Having that pedometer makes you honest with yourself, so you really know how much you’re moving,” adds Dr. Roizen.
Add 5.6 years: Get up and move!Just as important as getting in that 30 minutes of walking is making your overall daily life more active. Getting a full 100 minutes of movement a day is what gives you the biggest health benefits. An easy way to do that: Get up and move any time you’re usually sedentary—during TV commercials, for example. The average commercial break lasts for 2 to 3 minutes—plenty of time for you to work in a few mini moves like squats, jumping jacks or biceps curls (keep a set of free weights under your couch), or even just a few quick laps around the den.
Research shows that people who do the most sitting have an increased risk of heart disease. This is because sitting for long periods of time allows fat to continue circulating in your bloodstream longer, which in turn slows the ability of HDL (the “good” cholesterol) to clear plaque from your arteries.
Add 3 years: Go to bed 15 minutes earlierThis will help you get an extra 7.5 hours of shut-eye over the course of a month. “Sleep is profoundly important,” says David Katz, MD, director of the Prevention Research Center at the Yale University School of Medicine. “It’s when every organ and system in your body repairs, restores and resets itself. Not getting enough sleep compromises how well your entire body functions.” Although everyone’s sleep needs are different, experts say that regularly getting less than 7 hours per night is what starts to have a negative impact.
Click here to learn more ways to add years to your life!
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Do you already do these things? If so, which ones? If not, will you start doing some of them?
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