Report: Making These 5 Lifestyle Changes Adds 10 Years to Your Life

A new study has found that making just five simple changes to your lifestyle can increase your lifespan by more than a decade. The study, published in the medical journal Circulation, suggests that men who make these lifestyle will live 12.2 years longer than their counterparts, while women will live 14 years longer. So, what are these changes exactly?

Researchers say that not smoking, maintaining a healthy body mass index, exercising, eating a healthy diet and drinking alcohol only in moderation can increase a person's lifespan by more than a decade. Of course, this shouldn't come as a surprise. These are all essential lifestyle changes for health and wellness. Unfortunately, many people ignore them, resulting in higher rates of disease and illness.

Statistics show, for example, that one in three adults are considered overweight or obese, and one in 13 are said to have extreme obesity. Because of their elevated levels of body fat, these individuals are more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.

Exercising is a simple and effective way to overcome the health complications posed by obesity or an unhealthy weight. The Department of Health and Human Services  (HHS) currently recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. By following these recommendations, you'll set yourself on the path to better health and a longer, more fulfilling life.

Arguably, one of the most important lifestyle changes to live longer is to refrain from smoking. Although smoking rates have declined over the past few decades, this is remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly a half-million Americans die from cigarette-related disease or illness each year, and 41,000 die from secondhand smoke.

"We can do so much better for having a long healthy life by pretty simple minimal changes in our behavior, and only 8 percent of adults in our country are adhering to these,” said Dr. Meir Stampfer, co-author of the study and professor at Harvard Medicine School. “The main take-home message is that there’s huge gains in health and longevity to be had just by simple changes in our behavior pattern, and as a country, I think we need to make it easier for ourselves to do this by promoting tobacco cessation, by providing better environments for physical activity and so on.”

To recap, you can increase your lifespan by more than a decade by making five changes to your lifestyle. This includes not smoking, maintaining a healthy body mass index, exercising, eating a healthy diet and drinking alcohol only in moderation.