The No-Brainer Life Extension Plan

That's not the official name, of course. But when I read the summary, I thought, "Well, that's a no-brainer." If you don't smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables,, exercise regularly, and drink alcohol only in moderation, you might live 14 years longer than a control group who are careless with their health behaviors.

We examined the prospective relationship between lifestyle and mortality in a prospective population study of 20,244 men and women aged 45–79 y with no known cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline survey in 1993–1997, living in the general community in the United Kingdom, and followed up to 2006. . . Four health behaviours combined predict a 4-fold difference in total mortality in men and women, with an estimated impact equivalent to 14 y in chronological age.

"Combined Impact of Health Behaviours and Mortality in Men and Women: The EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study," Kay-Tee Khaw1*, Nicholas Wareham2, Sheila Bingham3, Ailsa Welch1, Robert Luben1, Nicholas Day1, Public Library of Science Medicine, published Jan. 8, 2008. Or download pdf.