HEALTHY HABITS CAN ADD 14 YEARS OF LIFE

To achieve additional 14 years of life do not smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and drink alcohol in moderation. These are the findings of a survey which studied the habits of some 20,000 people in Britain.
Professor Kay-Tee Khaw, University of Cambridge and colleagues calculated that people who adopted these four healthy habits lived an average of 14 years longer than those who do not. "We have long known that these healthy behaviors, but we never saw until now these additional benefits," said Susan Jebb, head of Nutrition and Health of the British Medical Research Council, who paid part of the study.
"Just take one of these behaviors helps, but every step taken to improve health appears to have an added benefit," said Jebb, who was not involved in the study. The benefits occur whether or not people are overweight and what social class they come.

The findings were published Monday in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine. The study included healthy adults aged 45 to 79 years. Participants filled out health questionnaires between 1993 and 1997 and nurses conducted a medical examination at a clinic. Participants scored one point for each of the categories of not smoking, exercise regularly, eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and consuming alcohol in moderation.
Until 2006, the researchers recorded deaths for any reason, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory ailments. people who were four points were four fewer possibilities of dying than those who failed either one, research showed.

According to Khaw, the study should convince people to improve their health often requires no major changes in your lifestyle.