(CNN) Want to prolong your life expectancy by more than a decade? A new study suggests that you can do just that by following these five healthy habits: never smoke, maintain a healthy body-mass index, keep up moderate to vigorous exercise, don't drink too much alcohol, and eat a healthy diet. 
 
 Adhering to those five lifestyle factors at age 50, compared with not adhering to any of them, was associated with 14 additional years of life expectancy among women and 12.2 additional years among men in the study, published in the journal Circulation on Monday. 
 
 Each of those factors is significantly associated with a reduced risk of dying from the top two killers in the United States, cardiovascular disease and cancer , according to the study. 
 
 About 610,000 people die of heart disease in the US each year, which is about one in every four deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
 
 About 609,640 Americans are expected to die of cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society 
 
 JUST WATCHED Life expectancy on the rise Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Life expectancy on the rise 01:22 
 
 "These are some of the leading causes of premature death, so by preventing or reducing the incidence of those diseases, it promotes longevity, and it also improves survival after diagnosis of those diseases," said Dr. Meir Stampfer, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health , who was a co-author of the study. 
 
 "We can do so much better for having a long healthy life by pretty simple minimal changes in our behavior, and only 8% of adults in our country are adhering to these," he said. "The main take-home message is that there's huge gains in health and longevity to be had just by simple changes in our behavior pattern, and as a country, I think we need to make it easier for ourselves to do this by promoting tobacco cessation, by providing better environments for physical activity and so on." 
 
 Photos: The countries where people live longest Photos: The countries where people live longest Italy – The Italian diet, combined with a climate that promotes outdoor activity, is thought to play an important role in healthy aging among Italians. Hide Caption 1 of 11 Photos: The countries where people live longest Japan – Japan has the longest-living population in the world, with the average 60-year-old going on to live until age 86. Experts say this is due to good diets, active lifestyles and supportive family structure. Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: The countries where people live longest Spain – Spain's version of the Mediterranean diet combined with strong family networks is believed to enhance life expectancy among its population. In Spain, average life expectancy at age 60 is 85. Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: The countries where people live longest France – France also tied second with the other countries in southern Europe with, those over 60 living to the age of 85, on average. Pictured, a couple sit on a bench in Cannes. Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: The countries where people live longest Andorra – Diet and outdoor lifestyle in Andorra help to keep the country's elderly population healthy. Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: The countries where people live longest Australia – The universal health care system in Australia, combined with Australians' outdoor lifestyle, help people live longer, according to experts. Pictured, a war veteran during ANZAC Day. Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: The countries where people live longest New Zealand – The outdoor lifestyle and health infrastructure are credited with keeping New Zealanders healthy and living longer. Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: The countries where people live longest Switzerland – Switzerland's wealth and health care system are credited with boosting the nation's longevity. Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: The countries where people live longest Singapore – After Japan, Singapore has Asia's highest life expectancy at age 60. Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: The countries where people live longest Monaco – The extensive wealth of the residents of Monaco is likely to be the main factor supporting health in the elderly. Hide Caption 10 of 11 Photos: The countries where people live longest San Marino – Like many of the other long-lived countries, San Marino's strong economy and infrastructure are thought to be the reason for its long-lived residents. Hide Caption 11 of 11 
 
 Globally, the US ranks 43rd when it comes to life expectancy at birth, with an average life expectancy of 80, according to 2017 data from the Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook 
 
 The three countries ranked highest for life expectancy at birth are Monaco , with 89.4 years; Japan , with 85.3 years; and Singapore , with 85.2 years, according to those data. 
 
 The countries with the lowest life expectancy at birth, based on that data, are Chad , with 50.6 years; Guinea-Bissau , with 51 years; and Afghanistan , with 51.7 years. 
 
 The 'surprising' impact of behaviors on longevity 
 
 For the new study, researchers measured the association between those five lifestyle factors and premature death using data from the national Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study . The data came from 1980 to 2014 and included more than 122,000 people combined. 
 
 Then, the researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys to estimate the distribution of those modifiable lifestyle factors among adults in the United States. Those data, from 2013 to 2014, consisted of 2,128 adults, 50 to 80 years old. 
 
 The researchers also derived death rates of US adults using the CDC's Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research database. 
 
 After analyzing the data, the researchers found that, in 2014, the overall projected life expectancy at age 50 was to live 33.3 more years for women and 29.8 more years for men. 
 
 Yet among the adults who reported that they adopted all five healthy lifestyle factors, the researchers found, they lived 43.1 more years among women and 37.6 more years among men. 
 
 Among those adults who reported that they adhered to none of the five healthy lifestyle factors, the researchers found that they lived only 29 additional years among women and 25.5 additional years among men. 
 
 "To me, the surprising outcome was how strong it was: what a big impact these simple behaviors could have on life expectancy," Stampfer said. "I was surprised that it was that pronounced." 
 
 Among the women, on average, about 30.8% of the life expectancy at age 50 that they gained from adopting five, versus zero, of those lifestyle factors was attributed to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease death; 21.2% was attributed to a reduced risk of cancer and 48% to other causes of death. 
 
 Among the men, those percentages were 34.1% attributed to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease death, 22.8% attributed to a reduced risk of cancer and 43.1% to other causes. 
 
 The study had some limitations, including that the data on adherence to the five lifestyle factors were all self-reported, making outcome vulnerable to measurement errors. 
 
 Also, the data analysis did not include measures of certain health conditions that are risk factors for a shorter life expectancy, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. 
 
 That limitation, however, "is both a strength and a limitation, in a way ... because what we're estimating here is the prolongation of life expectancy just based on behaviors," Stampfer said. 
 
 "Obviously, it's much better to do these healthy behaviors from childhood, really, but if you're beyond age 50, beyond age 60, beyond age 70, it's not too late," he added. 
 
 The factor that was seen as more 'powerful' 
 
 The findings should encourage and motivate people to adopt a healthier lifestyle, said Dr. Douglas Vaughan, chairman of the department of medicine in Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine , who was not involved in the study. 
 
 Though the study highlighted how the combination of all five lifestyle factors could help prolong life expectancy, Vaughan pointed out how each individual factor also was tied to a reduced risk of premature death. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Why your BMI matters Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Why your BMI matters 01:17 
 
 "It looks like cigarette smoking has a more powerful effect than the other lifestyle changes or behaviors. Certainly, maintaining a reasonable body-mass index is a great way to protect oneself against the development of diabetes," Vaughan said. 
 
 Body-mass index, a calculation derived from a person's weight and height, is used as a screening tool for body fatness. A normal or healthy body-mass index is typically said to be between 18.5 and 24.9. 
 
 "So, in aggregate, we see the effect on longevity, but you can imagine it's largely through effects on cardiovascular risk and metabolic risk," Vaughan said. "It suggests potentially at a defined point in life, say age 50, if you adhere to a healthy paradigm like this, you can have an impact on your longevity and on your health span." 
 
 Follow CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter. 
 
 Dr. Jack Der-Sarkissian, a family medicine physician and assistant area medical director of Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center , called smoking "the least-debated health risk factor." 
 
 "Beyond cancer risk, smoking contributes to lung disease, heart disease and diabetes. The study shows that even minimal smoking -- from one to 14 cigarettes a day -- is associated with increased death due to cancer and heart disease," said Der-Sarkissian, who was not involved in the new study. 
 
 As for some of the other lifestyle factors, "getting weight below a BMI of 30 appears to help considerably, according to the study. A higher body weight is linked to increased risk of diabetes and cancer, among other obesity-related conditions," he said. "The study suggests physical activity of at least 30 minutes a day of moderate or vigorous activities, including brisk walking." ||||| Americans as a whole don’t exercise enough—at least that’s what the latest studies show—and so the message is clear: get more active, take walks, Let’s Move! Basically anything is better than sitting on the couch. But how much exercise is enough? That’s a hotly debated question for which experts still don’t have a satisfactory answer. But given that most of us are starting from a sedentary position, the assumption has long been the more the better. 
 
 But in a report published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology researchers from Denmark say that people who push their bodies too hard may essentially undo the benefit of exercise. Those who ran at a fast pace more than four hours a week for more than three days a week had about the same risk of dying during the study’s 12-year follow up as those who were sedentary and hardly exercised at all. The link held even after the researchers accounted for potentially confounding factors such as age, sex, whether the participants had a history of heart disease or diabetes, or whether they smoked and drank alcohol. 
 
 MORE This Is How Much Exercise Experts Really Think You Need 
 
 In fact, those with the lowest risk of dying during the study period were people who ran less than three times a week for one to 2.4 hours, at a slow to moderate pace. Even people who ran slightly more, for 2.5 hours to four hours a week at an average pace less than three times a week, showed slightly higher mortality risk, at 66%, something that came as a surprise to the authors. 
 
 See the 10 Healthiest Cities to Live in America Colin Anderson—Blend Images/Corbis Getty Images Matt Hogan/www.mphoganphoto.com Jim Wilson—The New York Times/Redux Getty Images Celin Serbo—Aurora Photos/Corbis Misty Keasler—Redux for TIME Getty Images K.C. Cohen—Courtesy of Boston Children's Hospital Getty Images 1 of 10 Advertisement 
 
 “I would expect the light joggers to have really low risk,” says Jacob Marott, a researcher at the Copenhagen City Heart Study at Frederiksberg Hospital and one of the study’s co-authors. “But regarding the moderate joggers, I was a little surprised they didn’t have a bigger benefit from jogging than the light joggers. It made me think that if it’s really true, then exercise recommendations should take that into account.” 
 
 MORE It Doesn’t Matter How Much You Exercise If You Also Do This 
 
 What Marott and his team found was that both too little running and too much running are linked to higher rates of death. The most intense runners ended up with a risk of dying that was similar to that of those who opted to stay on the couch. Somewhere in between is the Goldilocks amount that’s just right to maintain heart health, burn off excess calories and keep blood sugar levels under control. And according to his results, that sweet spot is closer to the ‘less’ side of the curve than the ‘more’ side. 
 
 That dovetails with the mounting research that so-called micro-workouts—high intensity but brief workouts that could be as short at 1 minute, according to another recent paper—may be better for the body than long and continuous workouts. 
 
 That still means that some exercise is better than no exercise, but scientists may be getting more sophisticated about understanding that more isn’t always better, and that there may be a tipping point at which the harms of running start to outweighed its benefits. 
 
 Those negative effects might include things like changes in the structure and function of the heart and its vessels; previous studies showed that marathoners and long distance cyclists, for example, tend to be at higher risk of developing abnormal heart rhythms, and may be more vulnerable to enlarged hearts, which are less efficient at pumping blood and delivering oxygen and removing waste than normal-sized organs. 
 
 MORE Short Bursts of Exercise Are Better Than Exercising Nonstop 
 
 Marott acknowledges that it’s also possible that some other behaviors or factors common to avid runners, such as their exposure to the sun, which can increase their risk of skin cancer, might be explaining their higher risk of dying during the study. Other studies will have to investigate whether that’s the case, but in the meantime, Marott says “if you want to do something good for yourself, you don’t have to be extreme. Jogging one to four hours a week for no more than three days a week at a slow to moderate pace is actually achievable. And that’s a positive take-home message.” 
 
 Read next: 7 Reasons Why You’re Working Out and Still Not Losing Weight 
 
 The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now 
 
 Listen to the most important stories of the day. 
 
 Obesity in America: Photos From the Early Days of a National Health Crisis Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Martha Holmes—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images LIFE Magazine LIFE Magazine 1 of 20 Advertisement 
 
 Contact us at editors@time.com. ||||| (Washington Post Staff Photo/Andrea Bruce) 
 
 Just one glass of wine or other alcoholic drink a day significantly raises the risk of breast cancer, while vigorous exercise such as running and bicycling reduces it, according to an expansive review of research on the effects of diet, nutrition and physical activity on the disease. 
 
 The report, which was issued Tuesday, concluded that drinking the equivalent of one small glass of wine, beer or other alcohol a day — about 10 grams of alcohol — is linked to an increased cancer risk of 5 percent for pre-menopausal women and 9 percent for post-menopausal women. A standard drink has 14 grams of alcohol. 
 
 "This suggests there is no level of alcohol use that is completely safe in terms of breast cancer," said Anne McTiernan, a cancer-prevention researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and one of the report's lead authors. "If a woman is drinking, it would be better if she kept it to a lower amount." 
 
 The review, by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund, evaluated research in 119 studies encompassing data on 12 million women from around the world. It is the first such review since 2010, the groups said. 
 
 For the first time, researchers concluded evidence is strong that vigorous exercise reduces breast-cancer risk. Pre-menopausal women who were the most active had a 17 percent lower risk of developing malignancies compared to the least active women, while post-menopausal women had a 10 percent decreased risk. 
 
 [For women, heavy drinking has been normalized. That's dangerous.] 
 
 The researchers noted that many things influence cancer risk and that women can't control factors such as a family history of cancer. But, McTiernan said, "having a physically active lifestyle, maintaining a healthy weight throughout life and limiting alcohol — these are all steps women can take to lower their risk." 
 
 At the same time, she said, a healthy lifestyle is not a guarantee. Rather, it's more like wearing a seat belt. Many women will do everything they can to reduce their risks of breast cancer but still get diagnosed. "That's unfortunate, but that's what happens," she said. 
 
 Researchers were not able to calculate the degree to which vigorous exercise might cut the risk of alcohol consumption. What happens, for example, if a regular drinker also runs daily? 
 
 "The mechanism suggests that it could be helpful," McTiernan said. Alcohol increases estrogen, which is linked to increased breast-cancer risk, while physical activity reduces it. "But I can't say that for someone who drinks five drinks and then runs, that the exercise is going to negate the adverse effects of the alcohol." 
 
 The report found women who are overweight or obese have a higher risk of post-menopausal disease. 
 
 "If women lose just 10 percent of their weight, it's linked to reduced blood estrogen, inflammation" and other factors associated with breast cancer, McTiernan said. 
 
 The report also found limited evidence linking dairy foods, diets high in calcium and foods containing carotenoids to a lower risk of some breast cancers. Carotenoids include such fruits and vegetables as kale, apricots and carrots. 
 
 About 252,000 women in the United States are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. AICR estimates that 1 in 3 cases could be prevented if women did not drink alcohol, were physically active and maintained a healthy weight. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 Women with advanced breast cancer are surviving longer, study says 
 
 You just learned you have breast cancer. Now what? 
 
 Waiting and watching with 'Stage 0' breast cancer put to nationwide test
– Harvard researchers say five things will help you live longer, and the list isn't all that surprising: exercise, eat a healthy diet, maintain a healthy body weight, don't drink too much, and don't smoke. More surprising is just how much of an effect those five combined factors have on longevity—an extra 14 years for women and 12 for men, according to the study in Circulation. Researchers looked at about 30 years of data on more than 78,000 women and 44,000 men and found that those who were five-for-five on the aforementioned list had a significantly better life expectancy at age 50 than those who didn't abide by any of the healthy habits. For women, it meant an additional 43 years for the healthiest group, compared to 29 years. For men, it meant an additional 37.6 years, compared to 25.5 years. “When we embarked on this study, I thought, of course, that people who adopted these habits would live longer," says co-author Meir Stampfer, per the Guardian. "But the surprising thing was how huge the effect was." The two big factors: Those with the healthiest lifestyles were less likely to get cancer or heart disease, notes CNN. The Harvard Gazette provides some specifics: Researchers defined regular exercise as 30 minutes or more per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity; moderate drinking is roughly one 5-ounce glass of wine per day for women and up to two for men; and the target body-mass index is between 18.5 and 24.9. Scientists say they undertook the study to better understand why the US has a shorter life expectancy (79.3 years) than most high-income countries. (Another study says it's all about eating smaller portions.)