Delaying Nookie Is The Secret To A Long Life—If You're A Reptile

lizard reptiles
Self, Family

A new study shows lizards and snakes who postpone sex and kids live longer.

Want to have a long life? Well, it may be time to start living like lizards. Turns out, many reptiles are living longer thanks to certain sex practices, and scientists believe the same could be true for mammals. 

According to a study published in Global Ecology and Biogeography, where researchers gathered 672 lizards and 336 snakes and studied their eating and mating habits, reptiles who postponed sex, had less kids and stuck to a vegetarian diet are living longer. As for those frisky reptiles who got busy early in life and feasted on meat? They had a shorter life span. 

The theory behind this correlation is that having babies take a lot of energy and has a negative affect on their immune system. Researchers also found that reptiles that had fewer babies ended up having larger eggs. 

As for the meat affecting their life span, researchers explain that meat provides the animals with more protein, so they're likely grow faster and reproduce more, whereas herbivores will reach sexual maturity later and experience reduced reproduction rates.

Research done by Thomas Perls, director of the New England Centenarian Study (NECS) that involved humans upholds the same theory. He found that women who have babies after 33 are two times more likely to reach 95 than women who had babies before 30.

So, if you plan to wait later in life to have babies, don't feel weird for doing so. You could potentially be adding many more years to your life.