10 Simple Lifestyle Changes to Extend Your Lifespan by a Year

Want to boost your health this year? Small lifestyle changes can significantly impact your longevity.

According to Nicholas Kemel from the University of Sydney, just five extra minutes of sleep, two minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise, and half a serving of veggies daily can potentially extend your lifespan by a year.

It’s common knowledge that adequate sleep, exercise, and a nutritious diet contribute to longevity. Numerous studies have highlighted the lifespan differences between individuals following healthy versus unhealthy eating patterns. For instance, observing adults who adhere to World Health Organization physical activity guidelines shows significant benefits, recommending at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise weekly.

Yet, the effects of minimal lifestyle adjustments on lifespan and health expectancy remained unclear.

To address this, Koemel and his team analyzed data on sleep, diet, and exercise habits from around 60,000 adults aged 40 to 69, gathered from the UK Biobank project. Participants reported their food intake over the past year, with their diet scored from 0 to 100 based on healthiness. Several years later, wearable exercise trackers monitored their activity and sleep for one week, followed by an eight-year tracking of health and mortality records.

This research identified the least healthy 5% of participants, averaging only 5 hours of sleep, 5 minutes of exercise daily, and scoring about 35 on the dietary scale.

Using statistical modeling, researchers estimated that those who improved their habits by sleeping five more minutes, exercising two additional minutes, and consuming half a serving more of vegetables each day lived, on average, an extra year compared to the least healthy group.

Interestingly, combining minor lifestyle adjustments yielded similar longevity outcomes as making substantial changes to a single habit. For example, simply increasing sleep by 25 minutes without altering diet or exercise can be beneficial, Koemel explains. “Lifestyle integration amplifies benefits while reducing demands on individual actions.”

Compared to the unhealthiest group, those who slept an extra 24 minutes, engaged in four more minutes of moderate-vigorous exercise, and increased their vegetable intake could potentially gain four more years of disease-free living, avoiding conditions like dementia, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and type 2 diabetes. “This is a groundbreaking finding—individuals may not only live longer but enjoy more quality years,” Koemel adds.

Koemel’s estimates suggest that an average participant—who sleeps around 7.6 hours, engages in 31 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise daily, and has a dietary score of about 54—can achieve similar benefits through small adjustments.

Another enlightening study this week assessed mortality and exercise data from adults over 64 in Norway, Sweden, and the U.S. Researchers, including Ulf Ekelund from the Norwegian School of Sport Science, utilized statistical models to predict that if the majority of the population (excluding the top 20% most active) engaged in just five additional minutes of vigorous activity daily, about 10% of deaths could be avoided over the next eight years.

However, both studies note limitations. As pointed out by Alan Cohen from Columbia University, dietary recall surveys may be inaccurate due to memory lapses, and a week’s tracker data may not reflect overall habits accurately.

Further research is essential to understand the duration of lifestyle adjustments required for noticeable effects. Additionally, it’s vital to investigate how these findings vary across different age demographics and whether they apply to non-Western, low- and middle-income settings, where physical activity, dietary habits, and chronic disease prevalence differ significantly.