Lifestyle and habits can have a huge impact on our health and longevity. A recently published study that followed U.S. veterans ages 40 to 99 from 2011 to 2019 attempts to find out just how much.
Mortality trends collected among 719,147 veterans and lifestyle factors assessed among 276,132 veterans found that compared to those without healthy habits and factors, they were less likely to be physically active. The one thing that most reduced the risk of death in the sample population by 46 percent. The study applied the Ministry of Health's recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week as the threshold that participants must meet to be classified as physically active. Quitting smoking reduced the risk of death by 30 percent, and eating a diet rich in plant-based foods reduced the risk of death by 21 percent. The recommendation here is to stick to healthy plant-based foods rather than just being good at anything.
The study found that avoiding frequent binge eating and getting 7 to 9 hours of restorative sleep (without reducing regular sleep time) reduced the risk of death by 18% and 19%, respectively. It is expected that Having positive social interactions reduced the risk of death by just 5%.
This study also shows how a combination of different lifestyle factors can have an impact. Adopting just one reduced the study group's risk of death by an average of 26%. Adopting six positive habits led to a 73% reduction. The study also included factors for depression/anxiety and opioid addiction. Not taking either reduced mortality by 29 and 38 percent, thus giving opioid disorder a lower score as a harmful behavior than physical inactivity. Inclusion of all eight factors or none of them was associated with an 87 percent reduction in mortality risk.
