16.  Eat more fruit and vegetables

Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can help ward off heart disease and stroke, control blood pressure and cholesterol, and prevent some types of cancer. It is recommended to eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.

17.  Change job

Research suggests a strong relationship between how long people live and the nature of their jobs. According to UK Government statistics, for the period 1997-99, life expectancy at birth in England and Wales for males in the professional group was 7.4 years more than that for those in the unskilled manual groups. The gap between the social classes was smaller for women than for men, at 5.7 years.

18.  Have a happy marriage

Married people tend to have better health than unmarried people. For instance, married individuals tend to be able to have lower rates of alcoholism than their unmarried counterparts because they tend to offer encouragement, support, and protection from daily problems. They are also more able to handle stress better as a result. However, studies suggest that divorcing then remarrying actually increases the risk of dying prematurely.

19.  Be optimistic

People with a positive outlook on life can actually live longer. Researchers found that optimistic people decreased their risk of early death by 50 per cent compared with those who leaned more towards pessimism.

20.  Eat chocolate

Chocolate contains flavanoids and antioxidants which have positive health benefits. Flavanoids aid cardiovascular health, while antioxidants are believed to prevent or delay certain damage to the body’s cells and tissues. Dark chocolate is considered best as it contains more than twice as many antioxidants as a bar of milk chocolate, and has fewer calories.