Senior citizens, take note. This simple habit can help you add years to your life

New research shows that adding more years to your life is as simple as leaving the house every day.

There are many healthy lifestyle changes you can make to live longer -- from cutting back on sugar to exercising. But perhaps, leaving the house every day is the simplest of them all.

In a study of community-dwelling individuals aged 70 to 90 years who were participating in the Jerusalem Longitudinal Study, leaving the house daily was linked with a lower risk of dying over an extended follow-up period, independent of social, functional, or medical factors. The study’s investigators noted that getting outside of one’s home provides numerous opportunities for engagement with the world outside, and may facilitate exposure to a variety of beneficial experiences.

“What is interesting is that the improved survival associated with getting out of the house frequently was also observed among people with low levels of physical activity, and even those with impaired mobility,” said lead author Jeremy Jacobs, of the Hadassah Hebrew-University Medical Center, in Jerusalem. “Resilient individuals remain engaged, irrespective of their physical limitations.”

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