Good Hydration Can Help Us Live Longer, Says Research
We know that we can't live without water, and many studies have shown the positive impacts it has on our health.
Now, a study published in eBioMedicine has also found that drinking enough water can make our lives longer and reduce the risk of some diseases.
Researchers from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in the US looked at health data from over 11,000 adults, to see if hydration could slow down how fast a person ages.
This was found to be true in a previous, similar study with mice, the researchers said.
The data was based on five medical visits over about 25 years, starting when participants were aged 45-66 in the late 1980s.
The team looked at changes in participants' serum sodium levels — which show how much sodium there is in a person's blood. When the body doesn't have enough fluid, serum sodium increases.
The results showed that adults with higher levels of serum sodium — which often is a sign of dehydration or kidney problems — were more likely to develop a number of chronic diseases.
Their bodies were also found to be biologically older than their real age.
Participants with lower serum sodium levels were found to be at lower risk of developing chronic diseases, and were likely to die at a later age than those with high serum sodium levels.
Although serum sodium levels can't tell us just how much water the participants drank, previous studies have shown that most adults don't drink as much water a day as health organizations recommend.
