Because of the way reading ‘works out’ the brain, as well as its ability to promote empathy and emotional intelligence, you could add up to two years to your lifespan. Pick a fiction book if you can – that’s the genre that’s most likely to provide the biggest benefit.

Apples are packed full of fibre, potassium, magnesium, vitamin C and flavonoids – a potent, and health-promoting combination. To make it work for you, eat the apple’s peel too as it contains higher concentration of antioxidants than the flesh.

Eat a variety of different nuts and always choose raw, unsalted nuts to cut your risk of dying in the next 30 years by 20 percent. Nuts have anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and antioxidant properties, as well as being heart healthy.

(Read more: 5 Reasons To Eat More Nuts Now)

Making a conscious effort to celebrate the good stuff in your life adds up to a greater sense of life meaning and wellbeing, and the bigger that feeling is, the longer you’ll live – an extra 24 months on average, according to UK scientists.

Coffee beans contain a variety of nutrients and phytochemicals that work in sync to lower disease risk factors, like insulin resistance and inflammation. But don’t go overboard! While drinking between three to five cups a day can help you to live longer, drinking more than five doesn’t produce the same protective effect.

Planning ahead can increase how optimistic you feel, a state of mind that’s linked to greater longevity. Why? It’s most likely due to a range of reasons, such as the fact that optimists cope with stress better and may be more likely to follow healthy lifestyle advice.

(Read more: Here Are 10 Pretty 2017 Planners For Every Personality Type)

As well as building cardiovascular fitness, people who do weight-bearing aerobic exercise every day tend to have a higher proportion of lean body mass. That delays age-related disability, as well as protecting against death caused by cancer, infections, and neurological diseases.

Eating salty foods can make you retain water, resulting in a puffy look — especially in the area below the eyes. Banish the bloat by searching for hidden sources of sodium in your diet. Salt lurks everywhere from bread, cereal, and condiments, to sauces, deli meats and some sweet baked goods are loaded with it.

This traditional form of Chinese medicine not only helps keep you balanced, but it can also work wonders on your skin. It is believed the needles, which wake up your muscles, in this case, your face, can be used to treat dermatitis, acne, eczema and wrinkles, as well as strengthen general facial elasticity.

(Read more: Get A Flat Tummy With Acupuncture)

The health benefits laughing can have on your body has been proven to keep you feeling (and looking) young and healthy. Studies have shown that happy people who laugh a lot have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their system, and just 10 to 15 minutes of giggling each day is said to burn up to 168 kilojoules.

(Text by Helen Fittall, bauersyndication.com.au / Additional Reporting by Natalya Molok)