Much to humanity's collective dismay, there is no way to defy death. However, you can try. These are 10 WAYS TO LIVE LONGER.

DON’T OVERSLEEP
Here's a reason not to hit the snooze button anymore: Sleeping too much can reduce life expectancy, according to a study in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The study found that people who sleep more than eight hours per night had a significantly higher death rate than normal. However, late-night-party-goers shouldn't rejoice: researches say that sleeping less than four hours also increases death rates. People who sleep between six and seven hours per night were shown to live the longest.

BE OPTIMISTIC
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. found that optimistic people had a 50% decreased risk of early death compared with those who leaned more toward pessimism. People with a positive outlook on life are probably less stressed, better equipped to deal with adversity and, consequently, healthier. Optimists also tend to have lower blood pressure than pessimists.

HAVE MORE SEX
No complaints here. There's decent evidence that sex helps keep us healthy, and thus increases longevity. But according to researchers, it's not necessarily an actual biological response generated by sex that makes us live longer. What's more likely is that having intimate sex means you are less stressed, happier and better rested; all factors that can lower blood pressure and protect against stroke and heart disease. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that "high ejaculation frequency was related to decreased  risk of total prostate cancer."

GET A VAP
It's estimated that about half of the people with heart disease; the No. 1 killer in the U.S., have normal cholesterol levels, which raises serious doubt as to the ability of traditional cholesterol tests to detect risk. The VAP test measures important metrics, which traditional cholesterol tests miss completely. Unlike a regular test, which only detects half of the people with heart disease, the VAP has been shown to detect 90% of heart disease patients. That's important because lipid abnormalities can most often be rectified with medication and dietary changes.

GET A PET
People who own pets, especially dogs, have been shown to be less stressed and require fewer visits to their physicians than non-owners. The reasons for these findings are most likely related to an array of psychological factors, such as the facts that owning a pet decreases loneliness, depression, encourages laughter and stimulates exercise.

BE RICH
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 24% of Americans whose family income is less than $20,000 are "limited" by chronic disease, whereas only 6% of people with an income of $75,000 or more have this problem. One possible explanation for this is that higher incomes permit access to better food and housing, safer neighborhoods and increased medical care.

STOP SMOKING
To say that smoking is bad for your health is, of course, not revelatory. But it still cannot be denied that quitting can significantly improve your prospects of living a long life. Middle-aged men who are long-term, heavy smokers face twice the risk of developing more aggressive forms of prostate cancer than men who have never smoked, according to findings from a study that appeared in the issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

CHILL OUT
A study led by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that men who were classified as having the highest level of anger in response to stress were over three times more likely to develop premature heart disease when compared to men who reported lower anger responses. Furthermore, they were over six times more likely to have a heart attack by the age of 55. The lesson here is simple: Try as much as you can to let the everyday stresses roll off your shoulders.

EAT YOUR ANTIOXIDANT
Antioxidants, special substances that are found in foods ranging from cinnamon and cloves to blueberries and artichokes, have the ability to hunt free radicals, compounds whose unstable chemical nature accelerates the effect of aging on our cells. Until these excess free radicals are quenched by antioxidant molecules, cellular damage accumulates. This contributes to an array of degenerative diseases, including atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's and cancer.

MARRY WELL
Apparently, longevity genes can be inherited. So, for the bachelors out there deciding between a few women, pick the one whose grandparents are still alive. Of course, this won't make you live longer, but it might help your children.