Twenty-three years. That’s how many you can knock off your life by engaging in five common unhealthy habits, according to a new British study that tracked 1.7 million people for five decades.

The upshot: Keeping your weight under control, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and not smoking or drinking too much can add more than two decades to your life span, The Telegraph reports.

For the study, the researchers analyzed medical records of 1.2 million Brits tracked between 1960 and 2007 and 500,000 others recruited between 2006 and 2010. About 135,000 died during the research period.

The study authors used the information to estimate reductions in life expectancy associated with diabetes, stroke, heart attack, and other diseases tied to obesity and other lifestyle factors.

For a man in his 40s, suffering from all three conditions reduces life span by 23 years, the researchers said. They added that 80 percent of earlier deaths could be prevented by maintaining a healthy weight, exercising most days of the week, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, not using tobacco, and limiting alcohol consumption.

"Our results highlight the importance of preventing heart disease and stroke amongst patients with diabetes, and likewise averting diabetes amongst heart disease patients," said John Danesh, head of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care University of Cambridge and British Heart Foundation Professor.

"Although patients with more than one condition constitute only a small proportion of the population at large, in real terms the numbers are not insignificant. Measures aimed at reducing diabetes and heart disease amongst this group could have a dramatic impact on their lives."