Healthy lifestyle can actually make you 10 years younger!

An individual who smokes, drinks a lot, is physically inactive and has an unhealthy diet has 2.5 fold higher mortality risk than someone who leads a healthy lifestyle, new research says. 'To put it positively, a healthy lifestyle can help you stay 10 years younger,' said Eva Martin-Diener from the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) at the University of Zurich. Attention has now shifted on four key factors: tobacco smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol consumption.

For the study, researchers analysed data from the Swiss National Cohort (SNC) on these four factors from 16,721 participants aged between 16 and 90. Smoking appears to be the most harmful. Compared with a group of non-smokers, smokers have a 57 percent higher risk of dying prematurely. The impact of an unhealthy diet, not enough sport and alcohol abuse results in an elevated mortality risk of around 15 percent for each factor. (Read: Healthy lifestyle can help keep diabetes at bay)

'We were very surprised by the 2.5 fold higher risk when all four risk factors are combined,' said lead study author Brian Martin from University of Zurich. According to Martin, an unhealthy lifestyle has, above all, a long-lasting impact. 'The probability of a 75-year-old man with none of the four risk factors surviving the next 10 years is 67 percent and for a women, 74 percent,' researchers concluded.

Here we share 7 steps towards resetting your health and transforming your life.

Eat the right foods

Plant foods provide all the nutrients needed for optimal health as well as powerful antioxidants and phytonutrients which protect the body from illness and disease. Whole plant foods contain lots of fibre, but no cholesterol and are low in fat. These are the perfect foods for preventing and reversing lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer and obesity.

Exercise

Exercise builds muscle, helps circulation, and releases stress. Find an activity that gets you moving and which you enjoy, and practise it at least four times a week.

Drink water

Drinking water flushes out toxins and does wonders for the skin. It's important to drink at least 2 litres of water a day to keep the body hydrated.

Get sunshine

The sun is an important source of vitamin D, an essential vitamin necessary for calcium absorption and boosting immunity. Spend at least 15 to 20 minutes a day in direct sunlight, 3 to 5 times a week. Early morning sun is the best way to get your dose of vitamin D, avoid the afternoon as it can harm your skin.

Get fresh air

A breath of fresh air provides the body with a much-needed boost of oxygen. As often as possible, spend time outdoors in large open green spaces. Or if you work in an air-conditioned environment, take breaks to go out in the open for a few minutes every day. Read more about 7 simple tips to reset your health

With inputs from IANS

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