Staying Hydrated May Help You Live Longer and Prevent Chronic Diseases, Says New Study
More reason to make sure you’re drinking enough water.
- A new study published in eBioMedicine found adults with higher levels of sodium in their blood are more likely to age quicker, develop chronic disease, and experience premature death.
- Finding out how much water you need each day, and hitting that goal, can help prevent and slow the development of chronic disease and premature death.
Yet another study associates adequate hydration with living a long and healthy life. New research published in eBioMedicine found that staying well-hydrated may help adults prevent or slow the progression of chronic diseases and premature death.
Researchers collected more than 25 years of health data from 11,255 adults, ages 45 to 66, to explore links between hydration, ageing, chronic disease, and death.
Ultimately, Dmitrieva says, adults who don’t drink enough water are more likely to develop chronic disease or experience premature death because our bodies try to conserve water when we don’t drink enough.
Dr Natalia Dmitrieva, study author and researcher at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) tells Runner’s World, she and her colleagues utilised blood sodium levels to measure hydration because the electrolyte is directly involved in the body’s water regulation cycle. When we drink less fluid, the concentration of sodium throughout the body increases, she says. When we drink lots of water, our sodium levels decrease.
The study found participants with serum (blood) sodium levels above 144 millimoles per litre (mmol/l), were 50 percent more likely to have a higher biological age (as shown by accelerated damage to tissues and cells throughout the body, Dmitrieva explains), compared to those with sodium levels between 137 and 142 mmol/l.
Researchers also associated sodium levels of 140 mmol/l and higher with a 63 percent increased odds of developing chronic diseases, when compared to those with 138 to 140 mmol/l sodium levels (a narrow range within what experts consider normal). Finally, those with sodium levels slightly above the 138 to 140 mmol/l range and those slightly below those numbers saw an associated and significantly increased risk of premature death.
The takeaway: Participants with blood sodium levels within a narrow normal range — and therefore, had optimal hydration — showed the healthiest advantages. More specifically, sodium levels between 137 and 142 mmol/l were associated with the lowest risk of early mortality and sodium levels between 138 to 140 mmol/l were linked to the lowest risk of chronic disease.
Ultimately, Dmitrieva says, adults who don’t drink enough water are more likely to develop chronic disease or experience premature death because our bodies try to conserve water when we don’t drink enough. Therefore chronic dehydration gradually undermines the body’s proper functions and leads to accelerated ageing.
“These findings are important for people of all ages, since worldwide population surveys estimate that more than 50 percent of people drink less than recommended [amounts of water] and are therefore hypohydrated,” or dehydrated, says Dmitrieva.
