A new study by Harvard researchers suggests that five lifestyle habits may be key to extending life expectancy by more than 10 years. But one of the longevity-boosting habits is especially important for living longer—staying away from smoking and tobacco.

The research published in the medical journal Circulation cites five behaviors associated with significantly longer life: not smoking, keeping a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI), avoiding excess alcohol consumption, moderate-to-vigorous exercise, and keeping a healthy diet. Sticking to all five of those healthy habits was associated with 12.2 years of longer life for men and 14 years of longer life expectancy for women, according to the researchers. (Ok, this is a good time to note the caveat that this was an observational study and not a randomized clinical trial, and that correlation isn’t the same as causation.) Out of all these behaviors, however, avoiding smoking and tobacco products has been proven time and time again to be the most effective way to live longer—or at the very least avoid dying at an unnecessarily premature age.

Let’s let the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) explain exactly why. “Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis,” writes the agency.

On a larger scale, that amounts to an estimated 16 million Americans living with a disease caused by smoking in some way or another. And it checks all of the big-name killing boxes: heart disease (the number one killer of Americans), cancer (the number two killer of Americans), and COPD (the number three killer of Americans).

That’s a likely reason why the criteria in the latest study included avoiding smoking altogether. While the other associations surrounding diet and exercise have also shown strong associations with longer life expectancy and more healthy lives, avoiding smoking remains the single most powerful way to prevent an early death and extend life, according to multiple large-scale analyses.

哈佛大学一项新研究认为，想让寿命延长十多年，五个生活习惯可能是关键。而各项好习惯之中有一条特别重要，就是不吸烟。

该研究发表在医学期刊Circulation上，文中提到五种有助于显著延长寿命的行为：不吸烟、保持健康的身体质量指数（BMI）、避免过多饮酒、适度锻炼，以及规律饮食。研究人员发现，如果能坚持五种健康习惯，男性和女性的寿命分别能延长12.2岁和14岁。（需要注意的是，这个结论来自观察性的研究，并无随机临床试验基础，存在相关性并不代表坚持五种习惯就可以长寿。）不过各健康习惯中，拒绝吸烟和烟草制品已被一再证明是延年益寿的有效方法，至少可以降低英年早逝的几率。

让我们看看疾病预防控制中心（CDC）的解释。CDC称：“吸烟会诱发癌症、心脏病、中风、肺病、糖尿病，以及肺气肿和慢性支气管炎等慢性阻塞性肺病（COPD）。”

更宏观来看，据估算美国有1600万人或多或少因吸烟身患疾病。而且导致美国人死亡最多的疾病均与吸烟有关：心脏病（美国头号杀手）、癌症（排名第二的美国杀手）和COPD（排名第三的美国杀手）。

这可能是新近研究认为不吸烟有助于长寿的原因。其他研究也显示，规律饮食和坚持锻炼与延年益寿与健康生活关系密切，不过避免吸烟仍然是防止早逝和延长寿命的最有效方式。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审稿：夏林