Habits That Can Be Taking Years Off Your Life

Most people do not want to live forever but they also don't want to die too soon either. Drinking too much alcohol, fast food and even smoking can affect the longevity of your life. There are a few additional habits that are not talked about as often that can cut your life short. These things can build up over time and science says that they could be taking years off your life.

Are you a night owl? If you are a person who likes to stay up too late you could be putting yourself at risk of an early death. Not getting enough sleep is not good for you. People who go to bed later and wake up later, have a 10% higher risk of dying than early birds according to scientific analysis. "Night owls trying to live in a morning lark world may have health consequences for their bodies," said co-lead author Kristen Knutson, associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Depression can cut years off of your life. Men and women who suffer from depression could lose up to 10 years off their lives, according to one study. No one is happy 100% of the time but being bummed out ALL the time is not good for your mind and body.

Being lonely puts you at greater risk of cognitive decline. This affects your thinking, knowing, remembering, judging and problem solving abilities. By maintaining a social life and staying connected to loved ones you can try and prevent this feeling. Research shows that loneliness, not social isolation, is strongly linked to early dementia in the elderly.

Sitting for long periods of time is not good for you either. We all focus on our back posture but sitting too much every day can have an affect on your health. Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic says, "Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV, and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death." He explains that, we lose about two hours of our life for every hour we are sitting down.

Holding onto anger and resentment can come back to haunt you. Stress and/or anger triggers the release of the hormone cortisol from your adrenal glands. It helps your body deal with stressful situations by being released into your sympathetic nervous system stimulating the "fight or flight" response. It also helps with a multitude of processes in your body, including metabolism and the immune response. This hormone is "strongly linked with increased mortality risk." Just by letting things go you can increase your life span.

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