Study: Three Simple Lifestyle Changes Could Add Nearly a Decade to Lifespan

A few small changes to your daily routine could add years to your life, according to groundbreaking research published in The Lancet. The study reveals that combined adjustments in sleep, exercise, and diet may significantly extend both lifespan and healthspan—years lived without major chronic diseases.

Researchers at the University of Sydney analyzed data from nearly 60,000 adults in the UK Biobank. Using wearable technology to track sleep patterns and physical activity, along with dietary questionnaires, they assessed how lifestyle modifications affected longevity compared to those with less healthy habits.

The findings were remarkable in their simplicity. Just three minor daily adjustments—an extra five minutes of sleep, two additional minutes of moderate physical activity, and a slight improvement in diet quality—were collectively associated with about one extra year of life.

“These improvements might seem minor, but their cumulative effect is substantial,” explained the research team. For diet improvements, this could be as simple as adding half a serving of vegetables or 1.5 servings of whole grains daily.

The benefits increased dramatically with slightly larger adjustments. A combined improvement of 24 extra minutes of sleep daily, 3.7 additional minutes of exercise, and a 23-point increase in diet quality was linked to four additional years of life expectancy.

Most striking was the finding that optimizing all three behaviors simultaneously produced the strongest benefit—potentially contributing to a nine-year increase in lifespan, according to the research.

“Our findings suggest that very small, likely achievable, combined changes in SPAN behaviors may offer a powerful and feasible public health opportunity for improving lifespan for at least a year,” the researchers concluded, referring to the sleep, physical activity, and nutrition triad. They cautioned, however, that additional studies are necessary before integrating these findings into widespread public health recommendations.

A complementary study published simultaneously in The Lancet reinforced the importance of movement in longevity. This research, which included 135,000 adults across Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom, found that just five extra minutes per day of moderate physical activity, such as walking, was associated with a 10% reduction in mortality risk for adults who typically average about 17 minutes of daily activity.

For less active adults, the same five-minute increase still yielded a 6% risk reduction. The greatest benefit appeared among the least active 20% of participants, highlighting how small increases in physical activity can have outsized benefits for sedentary individuals.

The study also revealed that reducing sedentary time by 30 minutes per day contributed to a 7% reduction in mortality risk for adults who spend approximately 10 hours being sedentary daily. Those who spend about 12 hours sedentary experienced a 3% decrease in death risk when that time was reduced by the same half-hour.

Overall, adding 10 minutes of moderate-intensity activity daily was associated with a 15% reduction in all-cause mortality among most adults, while a one-hour reduction in sedentary time corresponded to a 13% decrease in death rates.

The researchers acknowledged some limitations in both studies. Being observational in design, they could only demonstrate associations rather than prove direct causation between lifestyle changes and mortality outcomes. Additionally, the research partially relied on self-reported data, and external factors may have influenced results.

Nevertheless, these findings offer compelling evidence that small, achievable lifestyle adjustments could have profound implications for public health and individual longevity. As populations worldwide continue to age, such straightforward interventions represent promising strategies for extending not just lifespan, but quality of life in later years.