FOUR simple behaviors -- being physically active, not smoking, drinking moderately and consuming fruits and vegetables -- can increase longevity as much as 14 years, researchers have found.

The study, published recently in the online journal PLoS Medicine, surveyed 20,244 men and women (ages 45 to 79) in the United Kingdom between 1993 and 1997. The participants, none of whom had cardiovascular disease or cancer at the beginning of the study, were asked if they were nonsmokers, were physically active, had moderate alcohol consumption and ate five servings of fruits or vegetables a day. One point was assigned for each healthy behavior.
 

Participants were tracked until 2006, and researchers found that those with a score of zero were four times more likely to have died as those who scored a four, and each point increased longevity incrementally. "We observed that these people [who scored a four] on average lived longer by 14 years," says Dr. Kay-Tee Khaw, professor of clinical gerontology at the University of Cambridge and lead author of the study.

"I think sometimes it's almost too discouraging for people when they think those changes are too big to make," she adds. "Doing something is better than nothing, and the more changes you can make, the better."