Healthy Habits: Definition, Lists, & Examples

By Zamfira Parincu, BA, Researcher
​Reviewed by Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.
What are healthy habits? Learn more about how to increase your quality of life by cultivating healthy habits with a few small changes.
*This page may include affiliate links; that means we earn from qualifying purchases of products.
Most of us want to make positive changes: going more to the gym, staying on top of the tasks, or eating healthier. Although they may seem daunting in the beginning, healthier habits are possible to incorporate into your daily life. The best thing to do is to start small but start now. If you’d like to know more about how impactful these healthy habits are for your mental and physical health, keep reading this article. ​
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What Are Healthy Habits? (A Definition)

A healthy habit is something you do that may significantly improve an aspect of your life. Here are some examples of healthy habits:
Although cultivating some of these healthy habits might seem daunting at first (Who has the time? Or the energy?), it is very rewarding for your physical and mental health to nourish yourself, both physically and spiritually. Many studies show that five low-risk healthy habits are vital for healthier and longer life expectancy (Li et al., 2020). The five healthy habits researchers found were:

Examples of Healthy Habits
  • A healthy, nutritional diet
  • Physical activity
  • Healthy body weight
  • Never smoking
  • Low-risk alcohol intake

What is interesting about the study is that you don’t need to do all five simultaneously to benefit from them. For example, if you only practice one habit, you can still live two years longer than if you didn’t practice one. Also, if you practice them regularly by the time you’re 50, you might benefit from almost a decade of extra living (Li et al., 2020). 
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The opposite of a healthy habit is an unhealthy habit that hinders your mental or physical health, such as smoking, skimping on sleep, not drinking enough water, or never being active or exercising.  

Healthy Habits for Nutrition

We eat to live and we live to eat. People with healthy eating patterns live healthier, longer, and are at lower risk for numerous diseases, including heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, or obesity. For those who have chronic conditions, eating healthy may help them manage these conditions and prevent complications (CDC, 2021).
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  • Eat the rainbow. According to the CDC data, fewer than 10% of children and adults eat the recommended daily amount of vegetables (CDC, 2021). When you “eat the rainbow,” you eat many colorful fruits and vegetables. These contain phytonutrients that can protect us from manic chronic diseases. Some fun examples include tomatoes and cranberries (red), carrots, peppers, and bananas (yellow and orange), spinach and avocado (green), blueberries, grapes, eggplant, and cabbage (blue and purple), cauliflower, garlic, and onions (white) (McManus, 2019).  
  • Drink water. Drinking water has many important benefits for a healthy lifestyle, but it’s important to keep in mind that ideally, the water should be just plain water. You can drink other beverages, of course, but the main one should be water or unsweetened tea. However, you can add fruit pieces into your water to flavor it naturally, such as with raspberries, strawberries, or lemon. Drinking water has been shown to be correlated with higher diet quality, reducing your appetite, and keeping your weight in a healthy range, and sometimes even losing weight (Stookey, 2016; Barcamontes-Castelo et al., 2019; Gazan et al., 2016).
  • Eat fruits. If you eat the fruits instead of drinking them, you not only reduce the amount of sugar you consume, but you also increase the fiber. Some fruit juices contain as much sugar as traditional desserts, so it’s best to avoid them as much as possible. However, if you eat fresh fruits, you can reduce your risk of heart disease or type 2 diabetes, as they are full of water, fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants (Park, 2021).
  • Eat slowly. No wonder why our parents always advised us to slow down when eating. The speed at which you eat actually impacts how much you eat because your appetite is controlled by hormones. Although hormones tell your brain if you’re still hungry or you’re full, it takes about 20 minutes for the brain to actually receive these signals. Also, faster eaters have been shown to eat more and have a higher body mass index (BMI) than slow eaters (Teo et al., 2020). So slowing down when you eat can actually make you eat less and keep a healthy weight.
  • Go Greek. Greek yogurt is not only creamier than regular yogurt, but it also has almost twice as much protein. Protein intake is important for a healthy weight and can help you feel full for longer. Pick a plain and unflavored Greek yogurt, as flavored yogurt could have too much sugar, but make sure to add your own fresh fruits or veggies. It goes really well with fresh berries, apples, carrots, or granola.
  • Get baking. Baking or roasting instead of frying can significantly impact your overall health. If you’re eating something during the frying process (French fries? Chicken wings?), some potentially toxic chemicals are formed during the frying process. These components (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, advanced glycation end products) might increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, and obesity (Poursafa et al., 2017). It’s perfectly fine if you enjoy fried foods here and there, but it should not be a daily habit. Try baking the veggies and meat, poaching the eggs, or slow cooking a stew.

Healthy Habits for Eating

What and how you eat, bite, chew, and swallow may have a direct and long-lasting impact on your brain. And that’s why you might feel lazier after lunch.

If you’re curious about how the food you eat affects your brain, you can watch the short TED-Ed video below on how the food you eat affects your brain:

Video on Healthy Habits: How the Food You Eat Affects Your Brain

Healthy Habits for Sleep

Do you ever lie in bed wondering if you’ll ever fall asleep? Or maybe you randomly wake up in the middle of the night very stressed out? Although there are many reasons why these scenarios happen, there are also many solutions to improving your sleep hygiene. 

Researchers show how good things happen when we sleep, and bad things happen when we don’t. If you’re curious why sleeping is important, you can watch this famous TED Talk below:
Healthy Habits for Sleep Continued…
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  • Be consistent. Everyone needs sleep and sleep is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. According to the CDC, most adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every night. It’s ok to miss a few nights of sleep here and there, but sleep deprivation is linked to poor mental health, heart disease, kidney disease, higher blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke. Sleep is very important for your health, as it is involved in healing and repairing your blood and heart vessels, and it allows the body and mind to recharge.
  • Set a fixed sleep time. Sure, sleeping in is great, but having a consistent sleep schedule has numerous benefits. Your body might have a hard time resting if you constantly wake up and go to bed at different times. If you’re consistent with your sleep and waking times, it can increase the quality of your sleep (Giannotti et al., 2002). Choose a schedule that works for you and try to stick to it even during weekends.
  • Wind down. Relax and clear your mind before going to bed: take a hot shower, read a book, do a guided meditation to aid sleep, or listen to music. Relaxation techniques before bed may help you fall asleep faster and have better sleep.
  • Go slow with change. If you’d like to wake up earlier, it’s essential to adjust your schedule gradually. For example, if now you wake up at 8:30 am, and your goals include waking up at 7 am, it’s better to work backward little by little, waking up 10-15 minutes earlier every few days, and going to bed earlier too, to help your body adapt to the changes.
  • Exercise. A consistent exercise schedule has numerous benefits for your physical and mental health and has been shown to reduce insomnia and improve sleep quality (Reid et al., 2010). However, you should keep in mind that exercising too late at night is not healthy for your body, as it can increase alertness and cause sleep problems.
  • Don’t eat too late. Eating a big meal too late at night might negatively impact your sleep quality and the natural release of melatonin, a hormone that plays a key role in sleep.
  • Watch out for caffeine. Although having a cup of coffee can help energize you, drinking it after 6 pm might not be a good idea. If you get drinks that contain caffeine, such as coffee, some teas, and sodas, too late in the day, they can negatively affect your sleep quality. For example, if you have a caffeinated drink up to 6 hours before bed, it significantly disrupts the quality of sleep (Drake et al., 2013). If you want a pick-me-up, you can try decaffeinated coffee, herbal calming teas, or water with pieces of fresh fruit.
  • Disconnect. All the devices that you use to be connected to the outside world can actually disrupt your healthy sleeping schedule. Your smartphone or laptop can keep your brain wired, and your thoughts engaged, making it very hard to calm down. Instead of scrolling on social media, try to outsmart your smartphone by reading a book or cuddling your dog for at least 30 minutes before bed. ​

Healthy Habits for Mental Health

  • Take care of your body. When you take care of your body and live healthier, it may improve your mental health. You might want to try to eat nutritious meals, avoid too much sugar, drink plenty of water, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep daily. All these things not only have benefits for your physical health but also for your mental health.
  • Try meditation. Whether you do a mindfulness mediation exercise before bed or a walking meditation during the day, it can significantly improve your quality of life, reduce stress and anxiety symptoms, and keep you more attuned to the present moment. Mediation is a great way to reconnect to your body and to bring awareness to the here and now, away from intrusive thoughts or feelings.
  • Connect. Having an emotional support system is linked to better physical and mental health, including lower levels of anxiety and depression, less stress, protection against post-traumatic stress disorder, lower mortality (Taylor, 2011). You can build connections by catching up with an old friend, spending quality time with a loved one, or cuddling a dog. You can grow your circle of friends or strengthen the connections that you already have. Either way, staying connected to others has numerous mental health benefits.
  • Take a break. Sometimes the best way to improve your mental health is to take a break from what’s stressing you. If you’re tight on time, you can do breathing exercises or a short meditation, but if you have more time, you can definitely do other things that you enjoy doing but can’t because you’re always too busy. Take a walk in a park, visit a museum, or call a friend—it may instantly make you feel better.
  • Relieve stress. This might sound like a no-brainer, but reducing stress and managing it is a key component to having better mental health. Some healthy habits include meditation, yoga, dancing, or practicing self-care.
  • Sleep. Perhaps many students know this, as they’ve experienced it first hand, but sleep and mental health go hand in hand. One researcher argues that we can see sleep as first aid for your feelings and explains how staying up all night might affect the emotional centers in your brain.

Healthy Habits for The Heart

​If you live a healthy lifestyle, you may keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, and sugar levels normal while also lowering the risk for heart disease and heart attack (CDC, 2020). Here’s a list of some more habits for a healthy heart:
  • Choose healthy foods and drinks. Try to limit sugar intake, alcohol, and other foods that cause inflammation. You can try to include nutritious meals, drink more water, and eat colorful and fresh fruits and veggies. A heart-friendly diet is full of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fish, poultry, and fruit oils (like olive, coconut, and avocado oils) and limits alcohol, processed meats,  sugar, trans fat, and additives like nitrates or carrageenan. If you follow this dietary pattern, you might have a 31% lower risk of heart disease (Chiuve et al., 2012).
  • Check your health regularly. Your health care team should regularly test for cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Although prevention is always better, if you have high levels, there are things you can do to decrease them. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes can increase your risk for heart disease (CDC, 2021).
  • Quit smoking. Smoking is one of the unhealthiest habits, and although it seems hard to break, it is possible. Smoking contributes to heart diseases and causes mortality. In one study of women, 64% of deaths among current smokers and 28% of deaths among former smokers were attributed to cigarette smoking. 
  • Exercise regularly. Exercising to run a marathon and to live a long and healthy life are different, although they may appear similar.

Video: 10 Habits of Healthy People - How To Live Longer

Articles Related to Healthy Habits

Here are some more articles to read that can help you build more healthy habits:​

Books Related to Healthy Habits​

Want to keep learning how to build healthy habits? Check out these books:​​

Final Thoughts on Healthy Habits

Having healthy habits is important for living a healthy lifestyle, both mentally and physically. You can choose to “eat the rainbow”, improve your sleep hygiene, or take up exercises. Start small but start today, because research shows that even improving on one habit has a significant impact on your life.

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