By Kristen Rogers, CNN
You may know that being properly hydrated is important for everyday bodily functions, such as regulating your temperature and maintaining healthy skin.
But drinking enough water is also associated with a significantly lower risk of developing chronic disease, dying early or being biologically older than your chronological age, according to a National Institutes of Health study published Monday in the journal eBioMedicine.
“The results suggest that adequate hydration can slow aging and prolong a disease-free life,” said study author Natalia Dmitrieva, a researcher in the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Sang, a division of the NIH. in a press release.
Learning what preventive measures can slow the aging process is “a major challenge in preventive medicine,” the study authors said. This is because an epidemic of “chronic age-related diseases” is emerging as the world’s population ages rapidly. And extending a healthy life can help improve quality of life and reduce health care costs more than treating disease.
The authors thought that optimal hydration could slow the aging process, based on previous similar research in mice. In these studies, lifelong water restriction increased the mice’s serum sodium by 5 millimoles per liter and shortened their lifespan by six months, which is equivalent to about 15 years of human life, according to the new study. Serum sodium can be measured in the blood and increases when we drink less fluid.
Using health data collected over 30 years from 11,255 black and white adults from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities, or ARIC, study, the research team found adults with serum sodium levels at the highest end of the normal range, which is 135 to 146 milliequivalents per liter. (mEq/L): had worse health outcomes than those at the lower end of the range. Data collection began in 1987 when participants were in their 40s or 50s, and the average age of participants at the final assessment during the study period was 76 years.
Adults with levels above 142 mEq/L were 10% to 15% more likely to be biologically older than their chronological age compared to participants in the 137 to 142 mEq/L range. Participants with a faster aging risk also had a 64% higher risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart failure, stroke, atrial fibrillation, peripheral artery disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes and dementia.
And people with levels above 144 mEq/L had a 50% higher risk of being biologically older and a 21% higher risk of dying prematurely. Adults with serum sodium levels between 138 and 140 mEq/L, on the other hand, had the lowest risk of developing chronic diseases. The study did not have information on how much water the participants drank.
“This study adds to observational evidence that reinforces the potential long-term benefits of improved hydration in reducing long-term health outcomes, including mortality,” said Dr. Howard Sesso, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and associate epidemiologist at Brigham. and Women’s Hospital in Boston, by email. Sesso did not participate in the study.
However, “it would have been nice to combine their definition of hydration, based only on serum sodium levels, with actual fluid intake data from the ARIC cohort,” Sesso added.
Biological age was determined using biomarkers that measure the performance of different organ systems and processes, including cardiovascular, renal (kidney-related), respiratory, metabolic, immunological and inflammatory biomarkers.
Elevated serum sodium levels were not the only factor associated with disease, early death, and risk of faster aging; the risk was also higher among people with low serum sodium levels.
This finding is consistent with previous reports of increased mortality and cardiovascular disease in people with regular low sodium levels, which have been attributed to diseases that cause electrolyte problems, the authors said.
The study looked at participants over a long period of time, but the findings do not demonstrate a causal relationship between serum sodium levels and these health outcomes, the authors said. More studies are needed, they added, but the findings may help doctors identify and guide patients at risk.
“People with serum sodium of 142 mEq/L or higher will benefit from assessment of their fluid intake,” Dmitrieva said.
Sesso noted that the study did not strongly address accelerated aging, “which is a complicated concept that we are just beginning to understand.”
“Two key reasons underlie this,” Sesso said. The study authors “based on a combination of 15 measures for accelerated aging, but this is one of many definitions out there for which there is no consensus. Second, their data on hydration and accelerated aging were a ‘snapshot’ in time, so we have no way of understanding cause and effect.”
Drink enough fluids every day
About half of people worldwide do not meet recommendations for total daily water intake, according to several studies cited by the authors of the new research.
“Globally, this can have a huge impact,” Dmitrieva said in a press release. “Decreased body water content is the most common factor that increases serum sodium, so the results suggest that staying well hydrated can slow the aging process and prevent or delay chronic disease.”
Our serum sodium levels are influenced by our fluid intake of water, other fluids, and fruits and vegetables with a high water content.
“The most impressive finding is that this risk (for chronic disease and aging) is evident even in individuals who have serum sodium levels that are at the upper end of the ‘normal range,'” said Dr. Richard Johnson, professor at the University. from the Colorado School of Medicine, by email. He did not participate in the study.
“This challenges the question of what is really normal and supports the concept that as a population we are probably not drinking enough water.”
More than 50% of your body is made of water, which is also needed for multiple functions, including digesting food, creating hormones and neurotransmitters, and delivering oxygen throughout your body, according to the Clinic Cleveland.
The National Academy of Medicine (formerly known as the Institute of Medicine) recommends that women consume 2.7 liters (91 ounces) of fluids per day and that men have 3.7 liters (125 ounces) per day. This recommendation includes all liquids and foods rich in water, such as fruits, vegetables, and soups. Since the average ratio of water consumption between liquids and food is about 80:20, this equates to a daily amount of 9 cups for women and 12 ½ cups for men.
People with health problems should talk to their doctor about the right fluid intake for them.
“The goal is to ensure patients are getting enough fluids, while also evaluating factors, such as medications, that may cause fluid loss,” said study co-author Dr. Manfred Boehm, director of the Laboratory of Medicine Cardiovascular Regenerative, in a press release. “Physicians may also need to follow a patient’s current treatment plan, such as limiting fluid intake for heart failure.”
If you have trouble staying hydrated, you may need help incorporating the habit into your regular routine. Try leaving a glass of water by your bed to drink when you wake up, or drink water while making your morning coffee. Fix your hydration habit to a place where you’ll be a few times a day, behavioral science expert Dr. BJ Fogg, founder and director of the Behavioral Design Lab at Stanford University.
The-CNN-Wire™ and © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Sandee LaMotte contributed to this report.