7 tips on living longer

1. Increase your physical activity

The top thing experts recommend you do to increase your lifespan is keep your body active, as multiple studies have found exercise reduces a person's risk of premature death.

Physical activity not only keeps the heart and circulatory systems healthy but also provides protection against a number of diseases that affect the body and mind, Smith writes. It also strengthens the muscles, which can reduce your risk of falls when you get older.

"If we spend some of our adult years building up our muscle mass, our strength, our balance, our cardiovascular endurance, then as the body ages, you're starting from a stronger place for whatever is to come," said Anna Chang, a professor of medicine specializing in geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.

The American Heart Association recommends doing at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, which translates to walking around 20 minutes a day.

2. Add more fruits and vegetables to your diet

According to Smith, experts don't recommend a specific diet over another, but advise eating in moderation and consuming more fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods.

Some experts emphasize that maintaining a healthy weight is important for longevity, however John Rowe, a professor of health policy and aging at Columbia University, said that's not as much of a concern, especially as people enter old age.

3. Get the right amount of sleep

While sleep is often overlooked, research has found that the amount of sleep a person averages each night correlates to their risk of death from any cause, Smith writes. Research has also found that getting consistently good sleep can add multiple years to a person's life.

Sleep has also been found to be important for brain health — one study from 2021 found that people who slept less than five hours each night had twice the risk of developing dementia.

"As people get older, they need more sleep rather than less," said Alison Moore, a professor of medicine and chief of geriatrics, gerontology, and palliative care at the University of California, San Diego. Moore added that seven to nine hours of sleep is typically recommended.

4. Don't smoke, and drink in moderation

Smoking cigarettes increases a person's risk for a variety of deadly diseases, Smith writes. "There is no dose of cigarette smoke that is good for you," Rowe said.

Excessive alcohol consumption can also have a negative effect on your health. Having more than one drink per day for women and two per day for men increases a person's risk of heart disease, atrial fibrillation, liver disease, and seven types of cancer, Smith writes.

5. Manage your chronic conditions

Almost half of all American adults have hypertension, 40% have high cholesterol, and over a third have pre-diabetes, Smith writes. While healthy behaviors can help manage these conditions, experts say it's important to follow your doctor's advice to keep these conditions under control.

"It's not fun to take the medications; it's not fun to check your blood pressure and check your blood sugar," Chang said. "But when we optimize all those things in a whole package, they also help us live longer, healthier, better lives."

6. Prioritize relationships

According to Chang, psychological health is just as important as physical health. "Isolation and loneliness is as big a detriment to our health as smoking," she said, and added that it put people "at a higher risk of dementia, heart disease, stroke."

Research from the Harvard Study of Adult Development has also found that strong relationships are the biggest predictor of well-being.

Rowe said he tells his medical students that one of the best indicators of how well an elderly patient will be in six months is to ask him "how many friends or family he's seen in the last week."

7. Have a positive mindset

Research has found that thinking positively can also help you live longer. Multiple studies have found optimism is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, and those who score well on optimism tests live 5% to 15% longer than those who are more pessimistic, Smith writes.

According to Moore, if you pick only one healthy practice to live longer, "do some version of physical activity. If you can't do that, then focus on being positive." (Smith, New York Times, 1/4)

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