How to Live a Longer Life

10 Things to Stop Doing if You Want to Increase Life Expectancy

If you're wondering how to live a long life, there are several things you can do to "slow down" your biological clock. Whether you're in your 20s or your 70s, research shows it's never too late to start healthy habits.

But what about the things you might stop doing in the name of your longevity? Read on for 10 tips on how to live a long life, ranging from your food choices to your frame of mind.

1

Stop Eating Mainly Processed Foods

Cured meats and cheese

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One of the major dietary changes that have taken place in many countries over the last 30 years has been a shift to consuming more processed foods. Along with processing comes an increase in added sodium, more saturated fat, more sugar, and less fiber. The result? More cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer, and diabetes.

For example, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends consuming no more than 2,300 milligrams (less than 2.4 grams) of sodium each day—less for many seniors and other people with certain health conditions, like high blood pressure.

Salt

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Americans consume more than 3,400 milligrams (mg) of sodium per day, on average. Most of the salt comes from restaurants and convenience foods, like baked goods, cured meats, and soup.

Do your body a favor, and try to eat "clean" more often, including foods high in fiber (which are linked to greater longevity) and ingredients you purchase and prepare yourself. If you’re short on time, cook ahead in big batches, or splurge on ready-made salads and other fresh or frozen vegetables while watching the sodium and sugar contents on the label.

Alcohol

In 2023, the World Health Organization published a statement in Lancet Public Health declaring that, when it comes to alcohol consumption, there is no safe amount that does not affect health.

2

Stop Smoking

cigarette butts

Stephanie Garza / EyeEm / Getty Images

If you’re a smoker, you know how hard quitting can be. But here's some inspiration: The NIH says tobacco use remains the most preventable cause of death. Some estimates suggest smoking can rob you of a decade of life.

Whether you quit cold turkey or phase out your habit, your body is surprisingly forgiving; Blood pressure and circulation improve soon after quitting, and your risk of getting cancer decreases every year thereafter. Plus, you'll look younger, too.

Keep in mind that your family members will also benefit from your staying tobacco-free because they'll no longer be exposed to dangerous secondhand smoke.

3

Stop Sitting Still

Woman sitting at a desk

Thomas_EyeDesign / Vetta / Getty Images

If you don’t feel you have time to exercise, consider this: You may not need to hit the global minimum recommendations of 30 minutes a day, five or more times per week, to extend your life.

A 2022 study found that 15-20 minutes of vigorous activity per week, accrued in short bursts, was linked to a lower risk of dying prematurely. These findings suggest that reducing health risks may be possible through relatively modest amounts of exercise, as long as that exercise boosts your heart rate sufficiently.

What constitutes vigorous activity varies depending on your fitness level. Picking up the pace of activities you may already be doing (like walking the dog or shoveling snow) for short two-minute intervals could qualify. If you'd have trouble holding a conversation while doing an activity, that's a good indicator that you’ve hit the right intensity.

4

Stop Holding a Grudge

Serene senior woman meditating lotus position living room
Hero Images / Getty Images

Anger can be a tough emotion to release, especially if you feel justified in your outrage. Maybe the best question to ask yourself is this: Is it worth the cortisol?

Levels of this stress hormone go up when you’re stressed or angry, with negative effects on your heart, metabolism, and immune system. High cortisol has been associated with greater mortality in a number of studies.

5

Stop Keeping to Yourself

Mature female friends with wineglasses and books at house party
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Staying social can be a good longevity booster, mostly by helping you manage stress and by strengthening your immune system. Good relationships keep you strong, while bad relationships can leave you in a negative frame of mind, and put you ​at risk of depression and even heart attacks.

Staying connected can be tough if you are feeling down, have lost someone close to you, or live far from extended family and friends. But there are ways to re-engage and meet new people even if you are in a new city, including volunteering and reaching out to others with similar interests through networks like business groups and book clubs.

6

Stop Thinking That Only Big Changes Count

Woman eating salad and using laptop in office
Tetra Images / Getty Images

Sweeping, radical lifestyle changes might be inspiring, but they can also be too daunting—and therefore, short-lived—for ordinary mortals. The next time you resolve to eat healthier or exercise more, try aiming low!

Pick just one small change at a time, like getting up 10 minutes earlier in the morning to fix yourself a healthy lunch for work, instead of a major life makeover. As the exercise advice above shows, even short spurts of activity each day can reap big benefits for your lifespan.

Small shifts can fly under your radar, adding up to big benefits over time without causing stress in your busy world. Consistency is more important than a short-term, grand gesture. Besides, looking at what’s already working in your day-to-day routine can help you feel energized and motivated to tweak a little more in a healthy direction.

Simple Changes, Big Impact

Skipping breakfast, eating late, and overeating have been found to have a profound impact on health, disease, and aging. Doing so adversely affects metabolism and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other conditions. Simple adjustments to when and how much you eat show promise as non-pharmacological strategies for improving your health and prolonging your lifespan.

7

Stop Letting Fear (or Denial) Keep You From Being Healthy

Male patient sitting on exam table in clinic room
Thomas Barwick / Getty Images

Of all the personality traits that could affect your longevity, conscientiousness consistently ranks as an important one, perhaps the most important one. Conscientious people tend to engage in healthy behaviors like eating well, exercising, and following their doctors’ advice while avoiding risky behaviors like smoking and driving too fast.

Don’t confuse being conscientious or diligent with being neurotic about your health, a trait that may be linked to anxiety, anger, and depression. For example, a neurotic person might worry they have cancer, and fearing the worst, neglect doctor visits. A conscientious person may still worry, but gets screened, tested, or treated in a timely fashion.

8

Stop Cheating Your Night's Sleep

woman curled up in bed

Adam Kuylenstierna / EyeEm / Getty Images

The amount of sleep you get can affect your lifespan, and not just because a sleepy driver is at risk of a car accident. Per a 2017 meta-analysis, sleeping substantially more or less than the seven-hour optimum was shown to put people at greater risk of death.

Quality of life is also on the line: A good night’s sleep can help you ward off stress, depression, and heart disease.

You can learn to fall asleep more quickly and take measures that can help, like keeping your bedroom dark and distraction-free and maintaining a cool room temperature. Meditation exercises can set the stage for a good night’s sleep, and an inexpensive noise machine can help with relaxing sounds.

If you’re still having trouble falling or staying asleep, see your healthcare provider for help.

9

Stop Stressing

Young woman practicing yoga in office

John Lund / Tiffany Schoepp / Getty Images

Like anger, stress takes its toll on your body and may accelerate aging. By trying to reduce stress, you can improve your health in the long term and your quality of life in the meantime.

Journaling or writing in a diary, meditating (a practice with multiple longevity benefits), and learning to relax, are wonderful ways to de-stress. Working in just a few minutes of meditation a day—even at your desk—can give your brain the mini-vacation from anxiety and tension it needs.​

10

Stop Relying on (or Blaming) Your Genes

Three generations of family hiking
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Having parents, grandparents, or other family members live into their nineties and beyond might suggest that you will too, but don’t rely too heavily on that family history. Family studies have demonstrated that only about 25% of the variation in human longevity is due to genetic factors.

This is good news for those of us without that exceptional ancestry. Environmental and lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, exposure to toxins, stress, regular medical tests, and even your social relationships play a role in how long you might live. Why focus on the genetics you can’t control when other factors can benefit from your attention?

By following a few basic principles, it's possible to extend your lifespan in ways that make your time more healthful and enjoyable. Predictable fixes like eating better, quitting smoking, being conscientious concerning your health, and working on getting better sleep are a few ways to make that happen. That said, it's important not to ignore the social and emotional side of the equation by staying connected to friends and family and letting go of stress and anger. Don't rely on your genes to do the heavy lifting and remember that small changes can lead to big payoffs for your longevity.

13 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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  2. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Sodium. MedlinePlus.

  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sodium Intake and Health.

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  5. Chen LS, Baker T, Hung RJ, et al. Genetic risk can be decreased: quitting smoking decreases and delays lung cancer for smokers with high and low CHRNA5 risk genotypes - a meta-analysis. EBioMedicine. 2016;11:219-226. doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.08.012

  6. Ahmadi MN, Clare PJ, Katzmarzyk PT, Del Pozo Cruz B, Lee IM, Stamatakis E. Vigorous physical activity, incident heart disease, and cancer: how little is enough? Eur Heart J. 2022;43(46):4801-4814. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehac572

  7. Jones C, Gwenin C. Cortisol level dysregulation and its prevalence-Is it nature's alarm clock? Physiol Rep. 2021;8(24):e14644. doi:10.14814/phy2.14644

  8. Yang YC, Boen C, Gerken K, Li T, Schorpp K, Harris KM. Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2016;113(3):578-83. doi:10.1073/pnas.1511085112

  9. Hu X, Peng J, Tang W, Xia Y, Song P. A circadian rhythm-restricted diet regulates autophagy to improve cognitive function and prolong lifespan. Biosci Trends. 2023;17(5):356-368. doi:10.5582/bst.2023.01221

  10. Yin J, Jin X, Shan Z, et al. Relationship of Sleep Duration With All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. J Am Heart Assoc. 2017;6(9):e005947. Published 2017 Sep 9. doi:10.1161/JAHA.117.005947

  11. Harvanek ZM, Fogelman N, Xu K, Sinha R. Psychological and biological resilience modulates the effects of stress on epigenetic aging. Transl Psychiatry. 2021;11(1):601. Published 2021 Nov 27. doi:10.1038/s41398-021-01735-7

  12. Mendioroz M, Puebla-Guedea M, Montero-Marín J, et al. Telomere length correlates with subtelomeric DNA methylation in long-term mindfulness practitioners. Sci Rep. 2020;10(1):4564. Published 2020 Mar 12. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-61241-6

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Additional Reading
  • Dietary Sodium. National Institutes of Health Public Information Sheet.
  • Age Page: A Good Night’s Sleep. National Institute on Aging Information Sheet.
  • Antonio Terracciano et al. Personality predictors of longevity: Activity, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness. Psychosom Med. 2008 July; 70(6): 621–627.
  • Carlos Augusto Monteiroa1a et al. Increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods and likely impact on human health: evidence from Brazil. Public Health Nutrition; 2011. 14 : pp 5-13.
  • Jane E. Ferrie et al. A Prospective Study of Change in Sleep Duration: Associations with Mortality in the Whitehall II Cohort. Sleep. 2007;30(12):1659-1666.

By Sharon Basaraba
Sharon Basaraba is an award-winning reporter and senior scientific communications advisor for Alberta Health Services in Alberta, Canada.