According to a study reported in the British Medical Journal in 2020, women can gain ten years and men seven years of life free of cancer, heart problems and type-2 diabetes from a healthy lifestyle.
US Study
The research is based on a study in the US of over 110,000 people whose lives were tracked for more than 20 years. The study's main author Dr Frank Hu, of Harvard School of Public Health, said the study had a positive message for the public, as they gained not just greater life expectancy, but good years through improved lifestyle choices.
At the age of 50, those who took part were asked if they met at least four of the following five criteria:
Women who said they met four out of five, lived an average of another 34 years free of cancer, cardiovascular disease (such as heart attack and stroke) and type-2 diabetes. Which is more than 10 years longer than those who did not.
For healthy men, it meant another 31 years of disease-free life, more than seven years extra than unhealthy men could expect. It is thought the difference between women and men may be because women live longer than men on average.
What the Study found
The study found that men who smoked more than 15 cigarettes a day and obese men and women (with a BMI of more than 30) had the lowest disease-free life expectancy. But some things were the same for both men and women.
Not only did a healthy lifestyle reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes, it also improved survival if men and women were diagnosed with any of the diseases.
These diseases are three of the most common diseases in old age. They are also known to be closely linked to people's lifestyles. Being obese or overweight, for example, is thought to be linked to 13 different types of cancers.
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK has calculated that four in 10 cancers can be prevented by people changing aspects of their lifestyle, such as cutting down on processed meat, eating more fibre in their diet and protecting their skin in the sun.
As the study was largely observational, it cannot conclude these lifestyle factors were directly responsible for extending life free of disease. However, it is also known that factors such as family medical history, ethnic background and age, could have an impact on the results.
Conclusion
We know that a healthy lifestyle is associated with longevity and that starts with our diet. It has become even more important in Covid-19 that we think about our diets and what we put into our mouths.
The priority is cutting down on processed foods and introducing more fresh food. Even if you can't exercise, keep moving and also try to keep your mind healthy. Having a healthy mind can and often does extend life.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk
This a a great reminder that not only are we responsible for our own day to day health, but also that we can directly improve our longevity through our lifestyle.
If this doesn't wake us all up and make us take a long look at how we lead our lives, then I don't know what will.
Thank you for posting this. I am going to make changes as a result.
Thanks. Yes, I love to blog about things that matter to me, to my readers, that will make our lives healthier and easier.
Having struggled for too long, and dealing with a disability, I was aware very early on ignoring myself and my health wasn't an option.
It is a wonderful reminder and given what we're all dealing with right now through Covid, now is exactly the time for us think about our health.