We’ve all been told that a healthy lifestyle is good for us, but a new study provides more evidence of just how good.

Healthy behaviors can dramatically lower the chances of having a stroke, the third-leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of permanent disability, according to the study results published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association on Aug. 11.

A team of epidemiologists, led by Stephanie E. Chiuve of the Harvard School of Public Health, tracked the lifestyles and medical conditions of 43,685 men and 71,243 women who were all 50 to 54 years old and free of major chronic diseases at the start of the study. Over the next 16 to 18 years, the participants answered questionnaires every two years about their health status and whether their lifestyle included any or all of five practices:

• No smoking
• Alcohol in moderation (no more than one drink daily for women, two for men)
• Weight control
• Exercising at least 30 minutes a day
• A low-fat, high-fiber diet rich in vegetables and fruit

Women who followed all the healthy behaviors had an 81 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke compared with those who didn’t. Men who followed them had an 80 percent lower risk. Ischemic stroke, the most common form of stroke, is caused by a blocked blood vessel to the brain.

“Good habits do pay off,” says Daniel T. Lackland, professor of epidemiology and director of graduate training at the Medical University of South Carolina. “This report shows that you can actually help prevent a stroke simply by adopting a low-risk lifestyle.”