If there were any readers who doubted that a healthy lifestyle generally leads to a longer life, it's time now to become a believer. When researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta assessed data from 16,958 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III Mortality Study from 1988 to 2006, they found that four low-risk behaviors were in associated with a reduction in death, and that the higher number of behaviors practiced, the lower the risk of death. And those practices are…not smoking, eating healthy, getting enough exercise, and drinking alcohol moderately. Medpage Today reports that the researchers found that people who practiced all four lifestyle choices were 63 percent less likely to die within the 18-year study period than those who kept none of those practices. The researchers found that not smoking has the greatest influence on mortality. MedPage Today reports that two years ago, the CDC researchers found that keeping four similar behaviors reduced the risk of major chronic illness, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Saturday, May 31, 2025
“Two years ago, Ford and colleagues found that keeping four similar behaviors reduced the risk of major chronic illness, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.”
For males, marrying a girl named Ginger will help stave off prostate cancer. (Just kidding)
Seriously though, if you need any further motivation for doing everything you can to avoid cancer, read oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Pulitzer Prize winning book “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.”
How about not drinking at all? The “beneficial” effects of moderate drinking can be attained through other sources, and by not drinking there is zero risk of overdrinking.
Don’t believe it,my wifes mother is 87,has smoked 3 packs a day ever since iv’e known her(ive been married 34 yrs),Drinks like a fish and eats anything she wants.
It’s all in your genes.
John, you knew that comment was going to get a response or two right?! I don’t think you should say genes are everything. What you can say is genes can make a big difference. But for who? When? Which diseases? Hard to know these things. So its dangerous to just give up your control of what you can control – your lifestyle. Yes, a minority of people do all the right things and die young. And a minority of people do all the excessive things and live til 87 or longer. The great majority of people are inbetween and their quality of life and/or longevity are directly affected by what they do. Everything in moderation is still the best plan if you don’t have any specific issue you are sure about.
With single samples, I guess one could conclude that smoking 3 packs a day produces longevity. George Burns smoked cigars and lived to be 100. Somebody else drinks like a fish and lives a long time. Everything in moderation except drinking poison, smoking or dangerous living.
That’s why they do a study of 16,000 participants. There are exceptions but no guarantees- just statistical inferences.
I have found that eliminating alcohol completely is even more beneficial to a longer, healthier life.