SCIENCE: 10 WEIRD HABITS WHICH COULD HELP YOU LIVE LONGER

Most of us are aware of the bad habits which shorten your lifespan - such as smoking, and bingeing on booze.

But are there positive lifestyle changes which help you live longer?

There are actually a surprising number of science-backed lifestyle choices which seem to help people live longer - from eating spicy food, to swilling down five cups of coffee a day.

Here are a few changes you could make, which might literally save your life.


1) Eat more spicy food

A study of 490,000 people from the China Kadoorie Biobank, found that people who ate spicy food two days per week had a 10% reduced risk of death over a given time period.

2) Drink wine, not beer

A 2005 study in the journal Thrombosis and Haemostasis suggested that wine drinkers tend to live longer than beer drinkers.

Many scientists believe that resveratrol, a chemical found in wine, may have an effect on longevity.

3) Drink lots of coffee

A new study suggests that heavy coffee drinkers who gulp between three and five cups a day could be cutting their risk of dangerous disease - and death.

Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that people who drank three to five cups per day (decaf or not) had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases, type 2 diabetes, and suicide.

4) Join a book club

Book clubs are just as good for extending your lifespan as sweating it out in the gym, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Queensland focused on 400 recently retired people in England.

The researchers found that losing touch with ‘social groups’ such as book clubs led to an increased risk of death.
 
5) Go to church

A study of 4,000 North Carolina residents found that people who went to church regularly were less likely to die in a given time period than those who didn’t.


6) Believe you are young

A recent University College, London study found that people who believed they were young actually tended to live longer.

7) Get married

Large studies have shown that married people are less likely to die of heart disease and other age-related ailments, and a Harvard study suggests that married people are more likely to detect cancers in their early stages.


8) Be optimistic

A large-scale study of 97,253 post-menopausal women in America, published in the journal Circulation, found that optimistic people had reduced risk of coronary heart disease and cancer.


9) Be intelligent

Intelligent people live longer than stupid people, a large-scale study has found - and no one is quite sure why.

Researchers analysed data from the Scottish Mental Surveys, in which almost all 11-year-olds in Scotland were given an IQ test on the same day in 1932.

The researchers found that people with high IQs are far less likely to die before age 76 - and the finding holds true even when factors such as economic status and employment are accounted for.

10) Be happy

Happy people actually live longer than miserable people - and the effect is not due to wealth, health or other factors.

The large-scale study at the University of North Carolina questioned 30,000 adults over the course of 30 years.

The study found that, within a given time period, people who described themselves as unhappy were 14% more likely to die.

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