Spending ten minutes a day adopting a few good habits could keep you alive for years to come.
Publishing in The Lancet, researchers found that the prescription for longevity could be as simple as incorporating three minor changes.
While it’s well established that health hinges on the holy trinity of diet, sleep and physical activity, this latest study reveals that tiny tweaks in each category can yield significant benefits.
Study authors suggest that adding just five minutes of sleep, two minutes of brisk walking, and a half serving of vegetables to your day could add up to a year to your life.
“This study tried to quantitatively measure these healthy aspects,” said Dr. Theodore Strange, MD, chairman of medicine at Staten Island University Hospital, who was not involved in the study.
“The more sleep that you have, the more physical activity that you are able to do, and if your nutritional intake supports your body’s health and minimizes the risks that go along with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension, then this would increase longevity of life,” he continued.
Previous research has focused on the individual effects of sleep, nutrition, and activity, but this latest research sought to determine how the combined effects influence longevity.
The study included 59,078 participants whose sleep, diet and exercise were measured over two years.
Follow-up research revealed that an additional five minutes of sleep, 1/2 a serving of veggies or 1 1/2 servings of whole grains, and two minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day were associated with an additional one year of lifespan.
Further, ticking those daily numbers up to 24 minutes of additional sleep and 3.7 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity was associated with four additional years of life.
Previous research has found that just two minutes of vigorous exercise every day can decrease a person’s risk of dying by as much as 18%.
Meanwhile, a recent study found that snoozing for seven hours a night and maintaining a consistent bedtime — within an hour window — can reduce the risk of early death by 24% and the odds of a hospital stay by up to 7%.
Strange notes that, in addition to adding time to your proverbial clock, these changes also improve functionality and quality of life.
However, he maintains that these improvements require a solid commitment to all three lifestyle modifications.
“Just one area never works. The three of them together are a triad. This study now shows that combining these benefits improves the human body’s wellness, health span, and lifespan. Any one habit alone may help a little bit but all three together are clearly much more important,” said Stange.
He notes that the interdependence of these healthy habits keeps the body alive and functioning at an optimum level.
“Life is about balance, and it’s the balance of good nutrition, good rest, good activity, and that leads to the machine called the human body to be at its most efficient way of functioning.”
Strange shared that this research supports the slow, steady adoption of healthy habits.
“Little changes are always the best way to achieve the best goals. If your life has been sedentary, instead of taking an elevator, take the steps, park farther in the parking lot, and get out and walk the dog for an extra few blocks; over time, those little things begin to add up, and that’s what we should be doing here.”
