by D. Trump

Created on: October 23, 2010   Last Updated: October 25, 2010

For the history of mankind, people have been trying to find ways to live longer.  Of course, this has had limited results for most, and has even been disastrous to some.  Luckily for us, we live in a time when the life expectancy is greater than ever before.  Most people know the common sense things that can increase life expectancy, such as quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy diet, exercising, or avoiding excess alcohol intake.  This article will not even discuss these topics, but rather focus more on the less obvious changes that you can make to help yourself live longer.

One of the most obvious ways to make sure that you live a longer life is to practice good sleep hygiene.  Many people know that getting enough sleep is helpful for reducing your chances of developing potentially fatal diseases, but many do not consider that the quality of the sleep affects this as well.  If you practice techniques that help you get a better quality of sleep, you will find that you will benefit far more from the time that you devote to this essential part of life.  Take a little time to make sure that you have a good bedtime ritual, and avoid exercise, alcohol, and anything exciting before bed.  These simple things will help to increase the positive benefits that you gain from sleeping, most notable of which is increased life expectancy.

The next thing that you can do to help yourself live longer is arguably the most interesting and amazing; Take a vitamin D supplement.  A recent study published in Men's Health Magazine found that people who take a vitamin D supplement are less likely to die from any cause.  That is a pretty amazing thing to know.  It is even said to help prevent some types of cancers and help increase happiness.  This is likely due to the fact that most Western cities just do not get as much sun as the body needs to thrive. There is much debate over what dose is most effective, but generally speaking, 1000 ui's is accepted to be most beneficial at this point.  When choosing a supplement, it is almost always better to choose a natural source over a synthetic source.

The final thing that this article will touch on is stress reduction. Stress is a reality in our world, and is arguably the biggest cause of disease and premature death.  If you reduce your stress, you will certainly live longer than if you do nothing about it.  Stress is often considered to be a bad thing, and can certainly reduce life expectancy.  Having said that, you do not want to eliminate it completely.  Limited amounts of stress can help motivate you and push you towards greater achievement.  If you make minimal changes in this area, you will likely see great results.  Simple things like exercise and meditation are often enough to get stress to the point where it is far more manageable.

This article outlined a few of the less obvious things that you can do to increase your life expectancy, the rest is up to you. Whether you agree with them or not, they are simple things that you can do that have a chance at increasing your life expectancy without wasting all of the time that you are potentially gaining.  Keep in mind that these are not some magical things that will certainly make you live longer, and you probably should consider doing the common sense things as well.  With a little effort, you can live longer and increase your quality of life exponentially.

Learn more about this author, D. Trump.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.