Even tiny tweaks to sleep, exercise and diet can give you a longer life, study finds

Researchers say combined effect of sleep, physical activity and diet larger than sum of individual behaviours

Even small improvements in sleep routine, physical activity, and diet can increase longevity for people with unhealthy habits, according to a new study.

Previous research has shown that exercise, duration and quality of sleep, and diet are strongly linked to longevity. But exactly how these factors affect ageing has generally been studied in isolation.

The new study assesses the minimum combined improvements in sleep, physical activity, and diet that can lead to a significantly longer lifespan and years of good health.

Just an additional five minutes of sleep, two minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity like brisk walking or taking the stairs, and an extra half a serving of vegetables a day can add a year of life for people who fare the worst in these habits, according to the study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine.

Researchers assessed data from almost 60,000 people in the UK Biobank cohort recruited between 2006 and 2010 and followed for an average of eight years.

Then, using a statistical model, they estimated the lifespans and years spent in good health for the participants across different variations of behaviour.

The researchers found that the most optimal combination of behaviours – seven to eight hours of sleep per day, more than 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day, and a healthy diet – could lead to over nine years of additional lifespan.

“A combined improvement of 24 minutes per day of sleep, 3.7 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day, and a 23-point DQS increase was associated with 4 additional years,” they said.

DQS, or diet quality score, was based on the intake of vegetables, fruits, grains, meats, fish, dairy, oils, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

A man lifts weights during a workout (AFP via Getty)

The researchers found that the combined effect of sleep, physical activity, and diet was larger than the sum of the individual behaviours.

For example, those with the unhealthiest sleep, physical activity and dietary habits would require five times the amount of additional sleep per day – 25 minutes – than if they improved their physical activity and diet as well by a small amount, the study noted.

“This study demonstrates that small, combined improvements in sleep, physical activity, and nutrition are associated with theoretical increases in both lifespan and healthspan that are clinically meaningful and relevant to population health,” the researchers wrote.

They cautioned, however, that additional studies were needed to examine if and how these findings could translate into clinical practice.

“These findings inform future trials and public health interventions by highlighting a pragmatic approach to improving population health that involves combined modest behavioural changes,” they wrote.