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New research suggests specific, small lifestyle changes may make a big impact on lifespan and healthspan.
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Even just a few minutes of activity and adding a half serving of vegetables to your plate may help, according to a study.
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Experts say approachable findings like this can make people more likely to do them.
Making big lifestyle changes can feel overwhelming. But new research suggests that some tiny tweaks to your routine may lead to better health and a longer life.
The study, which was published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, found that making small changes to three areas of your health—activity, sleep, and diet—could extend your life by up to four years. These aren’t huge changes: We’re talking about adding a few more vegetables to your day, and getting in a few extra minutes of exercise and sleep.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 60,000 people who participated in the UK Biobank, a long-running database that tracks the health and lifestyle habits of participants. The participants wore devices on their wrists for a week that tracked their sleep and movements. (Moderate to vigorous activity was considered exercise.) The participants also answered questions about their diet.
Meet the experts: Mark Hamer, Ph.D., study co-author, professor, and Head of Centre, Sport & Exercise Medicine at University College London; Joyce Knestrick, Ph.D., family nurse practitioner and director of Nursing Leadership and Management at George Washington University School of Nursing; Kevin Shah, M.D., cardiologist and program director of Heart Failure Outreach at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, CA; Jessica Cording, R.D., author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety
The researchers gave each participant a diet quality score (from zero to 100), with people who had a healthier diet receiving a higher score. Participants got higher scores for doing things like eating at least three servings of vegetables a day, three servings of whole grains, or skipping sugary drinks.
After crunching the data, the researchers found that people with the worst health habits slept about 5.5 hours a night, exercised just 7.3 minutes a day, and had a diet quality score of just under 37. (These participants were used as a baseline.) But the researchers also discovered that the participants with the worst health habits could add a year to their lives if they made small combined tweaks, like getting an extra five minutes of sleep a night, exercising an additional 1.9 minutes a day, and adding a half serving of veggies (or 1.5 servings of whole grains) to their plate daily.
But the researchers also found that participants who couldn’t (or didn’t) make tweaks in all three areas could also increase their life by a year if they just got 25 more minutes of sleep a night, 2.3 extra minutes of exercise a day, or a 35.5-point increase in their diet quality score.
Of course, bigger changes may lead to even greater lifespan increases—up to a decade, if you really want to change things up. Here’s what else the study found, plus why medical professionals think these small lifestyle adjustments may have such a big impact.
What impact did bigger changes have on lifespan?
While the researchers found that tiny lifestyle tweaks could add a year to a person’s life, they also found that larger (but still manageable) changes could have a big impact. People who made the following combined changes may increase their healthspan by four years:
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24 extra minutes of sleep
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3.7 extra minutes of exercise
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A 23-point increase in diet quality score. (That includes doing things like having fish twice a week or having an extra serving of vegetables.)
But those who are ready to make big changes across the board could extend their life by up to 10 years by making these combined moves:
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Adding 180 more minutes of sleep a night
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Increasing exercise by nearly 25 minutes a day
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Getting a 35-point increase in diet quality score
Why might small lifestyle tweaks have such a big impact?
Some of these lifestyle changes may seem small, but they can impact a range of biological processes in your body, ultimately lowering your risk of developing a range of serious health conditions, says Mark Hamer, Ph.D., study co-author, professor, and Head of Centre, Sport & Exercise Medicine at University College London. Those include:
These moves “are linked to longevity and preventing disease,” Hamer explains.
But these lifestyle tweaks of getting a little more sleep, moving slightly more, and slightly improving your diet come together to have more of an impact on health than when you just focus on one area, points out Joyce Knestrick, Ph.D., family nurse practitioner and director of Nursing Leadership and Management at George Washington University School of Nursing. “I talk to patients about this a lot,” she says. “I don’t think people realize how much these things impact your longevity.”
Knestrick praises the findings for highlighting the large impact small changes can have on health. “When you tell people that they need to lose 50 pounds and exercise for 30 minutes a day, they’ll say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to do any of that,’” she points out. “But if you use these as a starting point and work your way up, it can feel more realistic.”
How to make these changes
It’s best to start small, according to Kevin Shah, M.D., a cardiologist and program director of Heart Failure Outreach at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, CA. “Patients are far more likely to adopt and sustain changes that feel doable,” he says.
On the exercise front, Hamer recommends that you try to avoid sitting for long periods of time and try to fit in short “movement breaks” of two to three minutes into your day. For sleep, “try to be consistent and disciplined with bedtime/lights out—that will lead to better sleeping patterns,” he says.
When it comes to trying to eat better, it can be helpful to add fruits or vegetables to foods you already enjoy, according to Jessica Cording, R.D., author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. “Put a little more greens or an extra slice of tomato on your sandwich. If you’re making rice, use cauliflower rice instead,” she says. “Use flavors and textures that make sense for you, and don’t be afraid to start with small changes.”
Haver recommends sticking with these healthy changes when you make them. “Small changes to lifestyle that are maintained can have a measurable impact on health and well-being,” he says. “However, consistency is the key.”
Ultimately, the study shows small changes add up. “This is a really great example of how little shifts can end up making a big difference in the long run,” Cording says.
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