As women, we mostly live longer than our male counterparts, even though we spend the vast majority of our (married) lives waiting on them…strange that. However just in case you want to live longer, there are ways you can develop habits that will add years to your expected life expectancy. None of them are onerous and they all make common sense. Some of them you hear bandied about everyday but when you see them altogether you realise there might just be something in them after all. Please read on for 7 proven ways to prolong life.
It’s not news to us that you are supposed to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. A recent study from the University of Cambridge in England suggests that we could secure up to five more years if we eat vegetables regularly. Why is this research so good? Well the huge sample size (22,000 people) makes the research a lot more reliable, and the study also quantified the number of years we should live longer.
The same Cambridge study as mentioned in #1 also shows that by stopping smoking tobacco completely, you could prolong your life for another four or five years. And, it’s better for everyone else around you too.
Research has established that those that eat a handful of plain nuts a day (sadly not the salted or coated kind) can live for up to three years longer than those that don’t. Remember though that nuts can be high in oil and therefore are quite heavy on the calorie count so don’t make them the only healthy thing you do.
Although I’m not entirely sure about the validity of this piece of research, photographs of 230 major basketball players from the United States were studied – those with the biggest smiles seemed to live longest. If smiling really is one of the proven ways to prolong life it won’t be hard to raise a smile. Hey it’s worth a shot: smile for the camera!
Ah, here’s a more realistic piece of research for you. Exercise had to make it into my list for 7 proven ways to prolong life, just because it makes plain sense. Our Dutch friends have found that the life expectancy of those that completed regular exercise was three years more than their counterparts that did not exercise. I’m not sure about you, but I think I’ll go dig my running shoes out.
Even though we know that it’ll always happen, every woman in the world hates their birthday. Another year older, another step closer to that first dreaded wrinkle. We’re constantly told that life begins at 40, but in reality we all know that it’s downhill from 21. So when birthdays come around we’re entitled to hate them – however research has suggested that plastering on that fake smile and embracing the Happy Birthday song may be bad for us. What we have to do is genuinely like our birthdays! A study from Yale University has said that we could extend our years by over seven and a half if we enjoy our birthdays, instead of dreading them!
Finally on my list of proven ways to prolong life is being friendly. It has been reported that being close to friends and family does not only make life more enjoyable, but could also increase our life expectancy. Although there are no exact figures, it has been said that you can live up to 50% longer than those that don’t have close friends and family.
There you have it: my 7 proven ways to prolong your life. If you get adding up the totals there, you could find yourself living by over two decades! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article, so please do comment if you are planning on adopting any of these methods into your daily lifestyle – live long and prosper ladies!
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