When you think about adopting a healthier lifestyle, you might be fooled into believing you have to change every aspect of your life. However, experts say that all it takes is a few small adjustments – and you could see your health improve significantly.

The study, published in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine, is the first of its kind to investigate just how much a healthy lifestyle can counter the impact of genetics that could make a person predisposed to a shorter life.

Researchers found that people with a high genetic risk of a shorter life expectancy are 21% more at risk of an early death compared to those with a low genetic risk.

However, leading an unhealthy lifestyle on top of having a genetic predisposition for a shorter lifespan more than doubled the risk of early death, the study revealed.

Having a “favourable” lifestyle – such as never smoking, doing regular exercise, sleeping enough and maintaining a healthy diet – helped offset this risk of early death by about 62%.

The researchers wrote: “Participants with high genetic risk could prolong approximately 5.22 years of life expectancy at age 40 with a favourable lifestyle”.