1. Studies have suggested that dark chocolate is good for the heart and make our lives longer. People who eat chocolate lived a year or so longer than those who do not. Those who ate one to three bars a month came out best with a 36 per cent lower risk of premature death. Antioxidants, especially in dark chocolate, may be responsible.
2. Diets with low levels of meat and vegetarian diets have been linked to lower risk of premature death. Those who rarely ate meat and found that sticking to such a diet added 3.6 years to a person’s life.
3. High levels of activity can extend life by between 1.3 and 3.7 years. The main reason is the beneficial effect that physical activity has on the heart. People who take exercise are also less likely to be overweight and more likely to have a better quality of life.
4. Highly educated women can expect to live more than five years longer than less-educated women, while men with a university degree have an extra 7.8 years, according to a Harvard University study.
5. Research at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden shows that golfers live five years longer. The
study shows a 40 per cent reduced risk of an early death. The health benefits of exercise and companionship may be the reason.
6. Losing weight can add as much as seven years to a person’s life. A team at Oxford University showed that people who are far at the age of 40 died, on average, seven years earlier.
7. Not smoking adds up to 10 years to life. Those who had never smoked lived an average 10 years longer than those who smoked more than 20 a day. Research on men in New Zealand showed that 50 per cent of smokers die early, and that they die 14 years earlier than non-smokers. Heart disease and cancer are among the biggest killers.
8.Married men live, on average, 10 years longer than non-married men, while married women live about four years longer than non-married women. One theory is that married men have less risky and healthier lifestyles. Married women may live longer due to improved financial wellbeing. However, one Swiss study found that being married shortens a woman’s life by 1.4 years, possibly because of the stress of living with a man.
9. Wealthy people live longer than the poor. In the poor neighbourhoods, the average life expectancy was 63 years, against 83 in wealthy suburbs.
1. What do you think is the best age to be? Explain your opinion.
