The study by scientists at Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital, found that a combination of healthy lifestyle factors such as never smoking, keeping weight in check, exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet low in red meat and 'trans-fats', halved a woman's risk of dying early.

The scientists say the combination of these healthy lifestyle factors help women avoid chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

The study by Dr. Rob van Dam and colleagues involved almost 80,000 women aged 34 to 59 years who were recruited in 1980 as part of the Nurses' Health Study.

Over a 24 year period the research team analysed the data from detailed follow-up questionnaires done every two years about diet, frequency of physical activity, alcohol intake, weight, how much they smoked, and disease history - deaths were confirmed by next of kin and the National Death Index.

During the follow-up period the researchers documented 8,882 deaths including 1,790 from heart disease and 4,527 from cancer - by using the data collected they were able to estimate that 28% of these deaths could have been avoided if women had never smoked and that 55% could have been avoided if women had combined never smoking, regular physical activity, a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight.

The researchers say alcohol intake did not significantly change this estimate, though heavy alcohol consumption has been linked to an increased risk of dying from cancer.

They say smoking was found to be the biggest cause of premature death but all the other factors also contributed.

They also found that women with light-to-moderate alcohol consumption - to 1 drink a day - were less likely to die from cardiovascular diseases than alcohol abstainers.

The scientists say the results of this research indicates that more needs to be done to eradicate smoking and to encourage individuals to take regular exercise and eat healthily and they conclude that "even modest differences in lifestyle can have a substantial impact on reducing mortality rates".

The study is published in the British Medical Journal.

New Australian guidelines to be formalised by the National Health and Medical Research Council later this year, are expected to advise that 14 standards is the threshold of what is considered to be a harmful consumption of alcohol.

The researchers say the cardioprotective benefit from moderate drinking does not apply equally to all drinkers, and this variability should be emphasised in public health messages.

They say most people drink for reasons other than alcohol's health benefits, but the widely publicised heart protection benefits may be used to justify or increase their habit, but the most protective effects from moderate drinking were found among those with the worst behaviour profile.

Professor Marmot says people should stop smoking, eat more fruit and vegetables and do more exercise to reduce their risk for coronary heart disease.

The researchers say the international clinical consensus is people should not take up or maintain drinking for health benefits as any benefits occur at considerably lower levels than the safe maximum.

Alcohol is thought to benefit the heart through it's effect on blood cholesterol, clotting or inflammation.