- A healthy lifestyle can counteract the effects of heredity by over 60% and add an extra five years to life.
- Regardless of genetic risk, unhealthy lifestyles are associated with a 78% higher chance of premature mortality.
- Regular physical activity, sleep, and a nutritious diet are the best lifestyle choices for a longer lifespan.
The first study of its sort found that leading a healthy lifestyle can counteract the effects of heredity by over 60% and add an extra five years to life. According to the study, which was published in the BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine journal, leading a healthy lifestyle might add up to five years to one’s life expectancy and 62% counteract the effects of life-shortening genes.
This study, which included 353,742 participants from the UK Biobank, found that people with a high genetic risk of living shorter lives had a 21% higher likelihood of dying early, regardless of lifestyle characteristics.
Healthy Lifestyle
Regardless of genetic risk, unhealthy lifestyles are associated with a 78% higher chance of premature mortality. In addition, the study discovered that, in comparison to those with better genes and healthier lifestyles, those with poor lifestyles and shorter lifespan genes had a chance of premature death that was more than doubled.
However, scientists did find that there appeared to be some human control over the events that took place. Approximately 62% of the inherited risk of early death or decreased lifespan can be mitigated by leading a healthy lifestyle.
It has been discovered that quitting smoking, engaging in regular physical activity, getting enough sleep, and maintaining a nutritious diet are the best lifestyle choices for a longer lifespan.
In research that tracked participants for an average of 13 years, 24,239 deaths took place. In addition to several genetic variations, other factors like body shape, food, exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, and sleep patterns were examined by researchers using polygenic risk scores.