Adopting 4 healthy habits by middle age could add decades to your life

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Healthy habits like exercising, getting good sleep, and drinking in moderation could pay off not just in quality of life, but in length of life.

That’s according to research presented at the American Society for Nutrition’s annual conference in Boston last year.

Researchers examined the data of nearly 720,000 military veterans ages 40–99, who were followed over time. Those who adopted eight healthy habits saw a 13% reduction in mortality compared to those who did not.

The benefits of positive lifestyle tweaks were only studied among veterans, Xuan-Mai Nguyen—a medical student at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine in Champaign, Ill., and a researcher on the study—tells Fortune. But it makes sense that they would benefit civilians as well.

“These lifestyle factors are not new ideas, and for the general population to incorporate them into their lifestyle could promote general well-being,” she says.

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Lifestyle tweaks that could lengthen your life

So, just what are the healthy habits that extended the lifespan of hundreds of thousands of veterans?

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1. Never smoking

Life expectancy for smokers is at least 10 years shorter than it is for nonsmokers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The good news: If you quit smoking before age 40, you can reduce the risk of dying from a smoking-related disease by about 90%.

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2. Being physically active

In the study, those who got 30 minutes or more of moderate or vigorous physical activity a day were considered to be physically active. Such people should be able to walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded, according to Nguyen.

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3. Not regularly binge-drinking

Study participants whose peak daily alcoholic beverage consumption in the past month was four drinks or less were not considered to be binge drinkers. Those who consumed five or more drinks in one day on their heaviest drinking day in the past month were considered to be binge drinkers.

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4. Getting good sleep

Participants who got, on average, seven to nine hours of sleep a night and didn’t suffer from insomnia were considered to have good sleep. Insomnia was defined as having one or more of the following symptoms: difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, and/or early-morning awakenings, along with sleep that isn’t refreshing or excessive daytime sleepiness.

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Read the full article here.

?? Aging Well Tip of the Week

While it may sound counterintuitive, a growing number of women are opting to carry even more weight on their shoulders.

In pursuit of preserving strength, a slew of middle-aged women are purchasing weighted vests to optimize their health and counter age-related muscle and bone loss.

Read more here.

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