Most of us know that water is an important part of our day. Staying hydrated ensures that you can function well throughout the day. What many of us may not have known, until now, is that water can actually be important for lowering the risk of chronic diseases and of dying early. The NIH just published a surprising study that looked at over 11,000 adults for 30 years.
The authors had the hypothesis that hydration may be able to slow down aging from previous studies they had done in mice. In those studies, they found that lifelong water restriction both increased the serum sodium in mice and shortened their lives by six months.
In the current study, they were able to evaluate the serum sodium levels in people and to isolate that those with a higher end of normal range (135-146 mEq/L) had worse health results than did those within range.
Further studies are certainly needed, since the serum sodium levels and health outcomes can’t be proven to have a causal relationship. But the findings are certainly worth noting and considering.