The average human life expectancy is currently 67.59 years. Monaco has the highest life expectancy of any country with an average of 89.68 years (the United States ranks 51st, with an average life expectancy of 78.49 years). What can you do to live longer? Research has found that genes determine 20% to 30% of an individual’s longevity, while the remaining 70% to 80% is determined by environmental factors and an individual’s behaviors. (Hjelmborg & Iachine 2006).
Genes only determine 20% to 30% of an individual’s lifespan. Interestingly, the largest genetic impact occurs after the age of 60 (Hjelmborg & Iachine 2006). New research is beginning to show that the effect of genes on longevity could be much larger after the age of 85 (Sebastiani & Solovieff 2010).
- Sex: Women consistently live longer than men (Austad 2006). In the United States, women live an average of 81.05 years, while men live an average of 76.05 years.
- Other genetic factors: Genes impact longevity mainly through their influence on disease. Some diseases are 100% genetically determined such as sickle-cell anemia. Most conditions, however, develop from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. On the bright side, a number of longevity enhancing genes have recently been discovered (Sebastiani & Solovieff 2012).
- Personality: Personality is also largely genetically determined. Of the Big 5 personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness) only conscientiousness is positively related to longevity (Friedman & Tucker 1995). Conscientious individuals are characterized as being well-organized, prudent, and persistent. Inconsistent results have been found in the relationship between other personality traits and longevity.
Environmental factors are not as easily changed as behaviors, but fortunately they play a smaller role than behaviors.
- Geography: Those who live in locations with good sanitation, good housing, running water, low crime rates and modern medicine have longer life expectancies. Exposure to toxins such as radon, asbestos, carbon monoxide, lead, mercury, and radiation can reduce life expectancy (Mokdad & Marks 2004). Overall, a decrease of 10 μg per cubic meter in concentration of fine particle matter (pollution) is associated with an increase in life expectancy of .61 years (Pope & Ezzati 2009).
- Noise pollution: Chronic daytime noise exposure of greater than 60 dB was associated with a 4% increase in all-cause mortality (Halonen & Hansell 2015).
- Culture: Culture can have a large impact on behavior. For example, Seventh Day Adventists (who don’t smoke, don’t drink, eat well, and engage in a number of other healthy behaviors) have been found to have the longest life expectancy of any group in the U.S. (Fraser 1999).
- Parental divorce: Children of divorced parents died an average of 5 years earlier than children whose parents remained together. Surprisingly, the death of a parent has no effect on life expectancy (Schwartz & Friedman 1995).
- Education: There is a strong relationship between education and mortality, with more education leading to a longer life (Lleras-Muney 2005). Starting school at an early age has a negative effect on longevity, while skipping a grade appears to have no effect (Kern & Friedman 2009).
- Income: Individuals with higher levels of income live significantly longer; this is especially true for men (Lin & Rogot 2003).
- Employment: The life expectancy of unemployed individuals is significantly lower (Lin & Rogot 2003). However, working too much is also associated with a shorter lifespan. Compared to working between a 35 and 40 hour work week, those who worked 55 hours a week or more and a 33% greater risk of stroke and a 13% greater risk of coronary heart disease (Kivimaki & Jokela 2015).
- Career success: Individuals who experienced success in their careers live much longer than those who don’t (Kern, Friedman & Martin 2009).
- Marriage: Married people live longer the longest. People who stay single have a longer life expectancy than those who divorce. Those who divorce and do not remarry have the lowest life expectancy. Marriage and divorce have a much larger effect on the life expectancy of men than women (Tucker & Friedman 1996).
- Religion: Religious people tend to live longer (McCullough & Hoyt 2000). The positive effect of religion is much more pronounced in women. (McCullough & Friedman 2009).
- Weight: A Body Mass Index (BMI) of between 22.5 and 25 kg/m2 is associated with the lowest mortality risk for both men and women (Whitlock and Lewington 2009). Moderate obesity (30.0-35.0 kg/m2) reduces life expectancy by an average of 3 years, while morbid obesity (40.0-50.0 kg/m2) reduces life expectancy by an average of 10 years (Peto & Whitlock 2010). BMI isn’t an ideal measure (because a person with a lot of muscle would have a high BMI), but these studies shows that obesity shortens your lifespan.
- Overall happiness Happy people live longer (Diener & Chan 2010). A study of 180 Catholic nuns found that those who had the most positive emotional content in their early life biographies lived the longest (Danner & Snowdon 2001).
A number of studies have shown that adopting or eliminating certain behaviors can greatly affect longevity.
- Stop Smoking: Men who never smoked have a life expectancy 10.5 years longer than men who smoke until death. Women who never smoked have a life expectancy 8.9 years longer than women who smoke until death. The sooner one quits the greater their life expectancy increases, with most benefits gained if one quits by age 35. Even quitting at age 65 can have a dramatic effect. Men who quit at age 65 gain an average of 1.4 to 2.0 years of life expectancy, while women gain 2.7 to 3.7 years of life expectancy (Taylor & Sasselblad 2002).
- Drink Less: Drinking 1 to 2 alcoholic drink has been associated with an increase in life expectancy, while drinking more than two drinks a day decreases your lifespan, with mortality risk increasing the more you drink (Marmot & Brunner 1991).
- Don’t do drugs: Doing illicit drugs reduces ones’ life expectancy. The type of drug and the quantity and frequency of use determines the adverse effect (Nutt & King 2010).
- Eat well: A Mediterranean diet (Perez-Lopez & Chedraui 2009) has consistently been shown to increase longevity. Overall, limit/ avoid red meat, processed meat, trans fats, saturated fat, added sugar and salt. Eat more legumes, nuts, fish, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Restriction of caloric intake by 20%-30% has also been associated with longevity (Roth & Polotsky 2012).
- Cook more: A study found that elderly participants who cooked up to 5x a week were 47% more likely to be alive 10 years later (Chen & Lee 2012).
- Physical activity: Those high in physical activity live 2.1 years longer than those exercise infrequently even after adjusting for age, smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol, and body mass index (Pekkanen & Nissinen 1987). Vigorous physical activities have been shown to increase longevity more than moderate or light exercise (Lee & Paffenbarger 2000). The benefits of additional vigorous exercise tends to plateau over time or even decline at very high levels (O’Keefe & Lavie 2013).
- Get up: Women who reported more than six hours per day of sitting were 37% more likely to die over a given period of time than those who sat fewer than three hours a day. Men who sat more than six hours a day were 18% more likely to die than those who sat fewer than three hours per day. Time spent sitting was associated with mortality even among men and women with the highest levels of physical activity (Patel & Bernstein 2010). Similarly, one study found that people who watch television for an average of 6 hours a day can expect to live 4.8 years less than someone who watches no television (Veerman & Healy 2012).
- Walk fast: It also helps to pick up the pace when you’re walking. A study found that for every additional minute/mile of walking speed, all-cause mortality increased by 1.8% (Williams & Thompson 2013).
- Social relationships: Individuals with adequate social relationships have a 50% greater likelihood of survival compared to those with poor or insufficient social relationships. (Holt-Lunstad & Smith 2010). A meta analysis also found that mortality risk increased 26% for reported loneliness, 29% for social isolation and 32% for living alone (Hold-Lunstad & Smith 2010). Pets are not a good substitute though. Playing with pets has no affect on life expectancy (Tucker & Friedman 2005).
- Sleep: People who sleep between 6.5 and 7.4 hours a night have been found to live the longest (Cappuccio & D’Elia 2013).
- Use a sauna: Surprisingly, a study found that all-cause mortality was 24% lower for people who used a sauna 2-3 times per week and 40% lower for people who used a sauna 4-7 times per week (Laukkanen & Khan 2015).
- Maintain a sense of control: A classic study found that giving nursing home residents more choice and responsibility over their lives had a 50% reduced mortality rate over the following 18 months (Rodin & Langer 1977).
It is possible that you could live a healthy lifestyle and still die early. It’s also possible that someone who smokes lives a long time. However, these are outliers. Habitually engaging in healthy behaviors will improve your odds of living a long and happy life.
Austad, Steven N. Why Women Live Longer Than Men: Sex Differences in Longevity. Gender Medicine. Vol 3(2), Jun 2006, 79-92.
Cappuccio, Francesco P., et al. “Sleep duration and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.” Sleep 33.5 (2010): 585.
Chen, Rosalind Chia-Yu, et al. “Cooking frequency may enhance survival in Taiwanese elderly.” Public health nutrition 15.07 (2012): 1142-1149.
Danner, Deborah D.; Snowdon, David A.; Friesen, Wallace V. Positive emotions in early life and longevity: Findings from the nun study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol 80(5), May 2001, 804-813.
Diener, Ed and Chan, Micaela Y., Happy People Live Longer: Subjective Well-Being Contributes to Health andLongevity (November 23, 2010). Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1701957
Fraser, Gary E. Associations between diet and cancer, ischemic heart disease, and all-cause mortality in non-Hispanic white California Seventh-day Adventists. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Vol 70(3), 1999, 532-538.
Friedman, Howard S.; Tucker, Joan S.; Schwartz, Joseph E.; Martin, Leslie R.; Tomlinson-Keasey, Carol; Wingard, Deborah L.; Criqui, Michael H. Childhood conscientiousness and longevity: Health behaviors and cause of death. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 68(4), Apr 1995, 696-703.
Hjelmborg, Jacob; Iachine, Ivan; Skytthe, Axel; Vaupel, James W.; McGue, Matt; Koskenvuo, Markku; Kaprio, Jaakko; Pederson, Nancy L.; Christensen, Kaare. Genetic influence on human lifespan and longevity. Human Genetics. Vol 119(3), Apr 2006, 312-321.
Halonen, Jaana I., et al. “Road traffic noise is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and all-cause mortality in London.”European heart journal (2015): ehv216.
Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB (2010) Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review. PLoS Med 7(7): e1000316. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316
Kern, Margaret L.; Friedman, Howard S. Early Educational Milestones as Predictors of Lifelong Academic Achievement, Midlife Adjustment, and Longevity. Journal of Applied Develoopmental Psychology. Vol 30(4) Jul 2009, 419-430.
Kern, Margaret L.; Friedman, Howard S.; Martin, Leslie R.; Reynolds, Chandra A.; Luong, Gloria. Conscientiousness, Career Success, and Longevity: A Lifespan Analysis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. Vol 37(2), Apr 2009, 154-163.
Kivimäki, Mika, et al. “Long working hours and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis of published and unpublished data for 603 838 individuals.” The Lancet (2015).
Laukkanen, Tanjaniina, et al. “Association between sauna bathing and fatal cardiovascular and all-cause mortality events.” JAMA internal medicine 175.4 (2015): 542-548.
Lee, I-Min; Paffenbarger, Ralph S. Associations of Light, Moderate, and Vigorous Intensity Physical Activity with Longevity: The Harvard Alumni Health Study. American Journal of Epidemiology. Vol 151(3), Feb 2000, 293-299.
Lin, CC; Rogot, E.; Johnson, NJ; Sorlie, PD; Arias, E. A Furhter Study of Life Expectancy by Socioeconomic Factors in the National Longitudinal Mortality Study. Ethnicity & Disease. Vol 13(2), 2003, 240-247.
Lleras-Munery, Adriana. The Relationship Between Education and Adult Mortality in the United States. Review of Economic Studies. Vol 72(1), 2005, 189-221.
Marmot, Michael; Brunner, Eric. Alcohol and Cardiovascular Disease: The Status of the U Shaped Curve. British Medical Journal. Sept 1991, Vol 303(6802), 565-568.
Marsh, Kate; Zeuschner, Carol; Saunders, Angela. Health Implications of a Vegetarian Diet: A Review. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. Vol 6(3), May 2012, 250-267.
McCullough, Michael E.; Friedman, Howard S.; Enders, Craig K.; Martin, Leslie R. Does devoutness delay death? Psychological investment in religion and its association with longevity in the Terman sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol 97(5), Nov 2009, 866-882.
McCullough, Michael E.; Hoyt, William T.; Larson, David B.; Koenig, Harold G.; Thoresen, Carl. Religious involvement and mortality: A meta-analytic review. Health Psychology. Vol 19(3), May 2000, 211-222.
Mokdad, Ali H.; Marks, James S.; Stroup, Donna F.; Gerberding, Julie L. Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000. The Journal of the American Medical Association. Vol 291(10), Mar 2004, 1238-1245.
Nutt, David J.; King, Leslie A.; Phillips, Lawrence D. Drug Harms in the UK: A Multicriteria Decision Analysis. The Lancet. Vol 376(9752) Nov 2010, 1558-1565.
O’Keefe, James H., and Carl J. Lavie. “Run for your life… at a comfortable speed and not too far.”Heart 99.8 (2013): 516-519.
Patel, Alpa V.; Bernstein, Leslie; Feigelson, Heather S.; Campbell, Peter T.; Gapstur, Susan M.; Colditz, Graham A.; Thun, Michael J. Leis. Leisure Time Spent Sitting in Relation to Total Mortality in a Prospective Cohort of US Adults. American Journal of Epidemiology. Vol 172(4), Jul 2010, 419-429.
Pekkanen, Juha; Nissinen, Aulikki; Marti, Bernard; Tuomilehto, Jaakko; Punsar, Sven’ Karvonen, Martti. Reduction of premature mortality by high physical activity: a 20-year follow-up of middle-aged Finnish men. Vol 329(8548), 1987, 1473-1477.
Perez-Lopez, Faustino R.; Chedraui, Peter; Haya, Javier; Cuadros, Jose L. Effects of the Mediterranean Diet on Longevity and Age-Related Morbid Conditions. Maturitas. Vol 64(2), Oct 2009, 67-79.
Peto, Richard; Whitlock, Gary; Jha, Prabhat. Effects of Obesity and Smoking on U.S. Life Expectancy. New England Journal of Medicine. Vol 362(9), Mar 2010, 855-857.
Pope, C. Arden; Ezzati, Majid; Dockery, Douglas. Fine-Particle Air Pollution and Life Expectancy in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine. Vol 360(4), Jan 2009, 376-386.
Rodin, Judith, and Ellen J. Langer. “Long-term effects of a control-relevant intervention with the institutionalized aged.” Journal of personality and social psychology 35.12 (1977): 897.
Roth, Lauren W.; Polotsky, Alex J. Can We Live Longer by Eating Less? A Review of Caloric Restriction and Longevity. Maturitas. Vol 71(4) Apr 2012, 315-319.
Schwartz, J E; Friedman, H S; Tucker, J S; Tomlinson-Keasey, C; Wingard, D L; Criqui, M H. Sociodemographic and Psychosocial Factors in Childhood as Predictors of Adult Mortality. American Journal of Public Health. Vol 85(9), Sept 1995, 1237-1245.
Sebastiani P, Solovieff N, DeWan AT, Walsh KM, Puca A, et al. (2012) Genetic Signatures of Exceptional Longevity in Humans. PLoS ONE 7(1): e29848. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029848
Sebastiani, Paola; Solovieff, Nadia; Puca, Annibale; Hartley, Stephen W.; Melista, Efthymia; Andersen, Stacy; Dworkis, Daniel A.; Wilk, Jemma B.; Myers, Richard H.; Steinberg, Martin H.; Montano, Monty; Baldwin, Clinton T.; Perls, Thomas T. Genetic Signatures of Exceptional Longevity in Humans. Science Express. Jul 2010, 1-5.
Singh, Pramil N.; Sabate, Joan; Fraser, Gary E. Does Low Meat Consumption Increase Life Expectancy in Humans? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Vol 78(3), Sept 2003, 5265-5325.
Stamler, Jeremiah; Daviglus, Martha L.; Farside, Daniel B.; Dyer, Alan R.; Greenland, Philip; Neaton, James D. Relationship of Baseline Serum Cholesterol Levels in 3 Large Cohorts of Younger Men to Long-term Coronary, Cardiovascular, and All-Cause Mortality and to Longevity. The Journal of the American Medical Association. Vol 284(3), Jul 2000, 311-318.
Taylor, Donald H.; Sasselblad, Vic; Henley, Jane; Thun, Michael J.; Sloan, Frank A. Benefits of Smoking Cessation for Longevity. American Journal of Public Health. Vol 92(6), Jun 2002, 990-996.
Terracciano, Antonio; Lockenhoff, Corinna E.; Zonderman, Alan B.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Costa, Paul T. Personality Predictors of Longevity: Activity, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness. Psychosomatic Medicine. Vol 70(6), Jul 2008, 621-627.
Tucker, Joan S.; Friedman, Howard S.; Tsai, Catherine M.; Martin, Leslie R. Playing with pets and longevity among older people. Psychology and Aging. Vol 10(1), Mar 1995, 3-7.
Tucker, Joan S.; Friedman, Howard S.; Wingard, Deborah L.; Schwartz, Joseph E. Marital history at midlife as a predictor of longevity: Alternative explanations to the protective effect of marriage. Health Psychology. Vol 15(2), Mar 1996, 94-101.
U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. 7th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Ofice, December 2010.
Veerman, Lennert J.; Healy, Genevieve N.; Cobiac, Linda J.; Vos, Theo; Winkler, Elisabeth; Owen, Neville; Dunstan, David W. Television Viewing Time and Reduced Life Expectancy: A Life Table Analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine. Vol 46, 2012, 927-930.
Wen, Chi P.; Wai, Jackson P.M.; Tsai, Min K.; Yang, Yi C.; Cheng, Ting, Y.D.; Lee, Meng-Chih; Chan, Hui T.; Tsao, Chwen K.; Tsai, Shan P.; Wu, Xifeng. Minimum Amount of Physical Activity for Reduced Mortality and Extended Life Expectancy: A Prospective Cohort Study. The Lancet. Vol 378(9798), Oct 2011, 1244-1253.
Whitlock G, Lewington S, Sherliker P, Clarke R, Emberson J, Halsey J et al. Body-mass index and cause-specific mortality in 900 000 adults: collaborative analyses of 57 prospective studies. Lancet 2009; 373: 1083–1096.
Williams, Paul T., and Paul D. Thompson. “The relationship of walking intensity to total and cause-specific mortality. Results from the National Walkers’ Health Study.” (2013): e81098.
Xu, Jingping; Roberts, Robert E. The power of positive emotions: It’s a matter of life or death—Subjective well-being and longevity over 28 years in a general population. Health Psychology, Vol 29(1), Jan 2010, 9-19.
Yang, Quanhe; Liu, Tiebin; Kuklina, Elena V.; Flanders, W. Dana; Hong, Yuling; Gillespie, Cathleen; Chang, Man-Huei; Gwinn, Marta; Dowling, Nicole; Khoury, Muin J.; Hu, Frank B. Sodium and Potassium Intake and Mortality Among US Adults: Prospective Data From the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Archives of Internal Medicine. Vol 171(13), Jul 2011, 1183-1191.