New research out of Sweden suggests that our feet may hold clues to how long we may live.
Researchers in Umea, Sweden, decided to see if our foot size could tell us some clues about our body. They conducted two studies, one with a group of 800 men and women, and the second study was even larger in size.
“We used computerized data to compare people from every area of Sweden,” said researcher Dr. Hans Bjors. “We studied the age at which they died and the cause of death and found that shoe size was definitely linked to longevity.”
How Does Your Foot Size Compare?
Although researchers stopped short of saying why foot size help predict life expectancy, they did that that there appeared to be a correlation between shoe size and life expectancy.
“As surprising as it seems, foot size does predict your life span,” said Dr. Bjors.
Women
Size 5 – 70-76 years old
Size 7 – 78-84 years old
Size 8 – 73-75 years old
Size 9 – 70-72 years old
Size 10 – 67-70 years old
Size 11 – 66-69 years old
Men
Size 5 – 63-66 years old
Size 6 – 64-69 years old
Size 7 – 66-69 years old
Size 8 – 67-72 years old
Size 9 – 72-75 years old
Size 10 – 73-77 years old
Size 11 – 75-82 years old
Size 12 – 74-79 years old
Size 13 – 67-72 years old
Size 14 – 66-69 years old
Researchers noted that individuals with half sizes tend to fall within the range of the full sizes on either side of them, meaning if you’re a male with a size 10.5 shoe, your life expectancy is between 73 and 82 years old. They also stated that although they’ve found an apparent link between foot size and life expectancy, there is no correlation between foot size and certain illnesses.
While the findings are certainly interesting, simply looking at your foot size isn’t going to be the best predictor of life expectancy. If you want to do everything in your power to extend your life expectancy, strive for the four pillars of health that we talked about on the blog before. They include getting regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, avoiding activities like smoking or excess alcohol intake and maintaining a healthy body mass index.
