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These 5 Healthy Habits Can Add Nearly 15 Years of Life Expectancy

Andrew Merle

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The United States spends the most money on health care per capita (over $12,000), yet has one of the lowest life expectancies (79.1 years) of all developed countries (rank: #46).

Perhaps this is because we focus so much of our effort on treating diseases instead of preventing them in the first place.

While potent life-extending drugs may be on the horizon, there is a lot we can do today to prolong healthy lifespan.

Researchers from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health conducted a massive study to determine the impact of healthy habits on life expectancy, drawing upon data from more than 120,000 people over a span of 34 years.

The findings showed that 5 specific healthy lifestyle habits produce significantly longer lives. Meeting the criteria for all 5 of these habits at age 50 correlated with living 14 years longer for women and 12 years longer for men. That would mean over $100 trillion in health-care savings, according to Harvard biologist David Sinclair. Here are the 5 habits:

1. Eating a Healthy Diet

Characterized by eating more healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, healthy fats, and omega-3 fatty acids, and less unhealthy foods like red and processed meats…

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