It turns out a good night’s rest can actually add years to your life. In a new study that will be presented at the American College of Cardiology/World Congress of Cardiology joint conference (ACC.23/WCC) in March, researchers found that young people who have more beneficial sleep habits are less likely to die early.

The study, which included data from 172,321 people with an average age of 50 and 54% women, found that following certain sleep habits could add almost five years to a man’s life expectancy and about 2.5 years to a woman’s life.

Roughly two-thirds of participants self-reported as being white, 14.5% Hispanic, 12.6% Black, and 5.5% Asian. Participants were followed for about 4.3 years, during which 8,681 people died. Of those deaths, 30% were from cardiovascular disease, 24% were from cancer, and 46% were due to other causes.

Based on an assessment of five different factors in quality sleep, researchers determined the key habits for high-quality sleep are…

1. Seven to eight hours of sleep per night

2. Difficulty falling asleep no more than twice a week

3. Trouble staying asleep no more than twice a week

4. Not using any sleep medication

5. Feeling well rested after waking up at least five days a week

“If people have all these ideal sleep behaviors, they are more likely to live longer,” Dr. Frank Qian, an internal medicine resident physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, clinical fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School, and coauthor of the study, said in a press release. “So if we can improve sleep overall, and identifying sleep disorders is especially important, we may be able to prevent some of this premature mortality.”

More research is required to better understand why men had double the increase in life expectancy compared with women who also had the same quality sleep.

“Even from a young age, if people can develop these good sleep habits of getting enough sleep, making sure they are sleeping without too many distractions, and have good sleep hygiene overall, it can greatly benefit their overall long-term health,” Qian added. “It’s important for younger people to understand that a lot of health behaviors are cumulative over time. Just like we like to say, ‘It’s never too late to exercise or stop smoking,’ it’s also never too early. And we should be talking about and assessing sleep more often.”