The research: Using data from the Swiss National Cohort, researchers from the University of Zurich connected the dots between tobacco, diet, alcohol consumption, and physical activity for 16,721 people between the ages of 16 and 90 from 1977 to 1993. Each one of the behaviors was shown to have a strong impact on life expectancy, specifically:
Smokers had a 57% higher risk of dying prematurely. Each behavior—eating an unhealthy diet, being sedentary, and abusing alcohol—elevated mortality by approximately 15%. Partake in two, and mortality was 30% higher. When all four of those habits are combined, there’s a 2.5 fold higher risk of death.
MORE: What It Takes To Live 115 Years The bottom line: All those cigarettes, fast-food meals, binge TV sessions, and imbibing take their toll, especially as we get older. The probability of a 75-year-old woman who partakes in all those risk factors to survive the next 10 years is 47%. However, if she didn’t smoke, ate well, exercised, and didn’t drink excessively, that stat would increase to 74%. Those are the kind of odds we like. MORE: 6 Sneaky Signs You Drink Too Much
