There very well could be, two research studies suggest, and it’s your water faucet.
Specifically, they suggest that drinking enough water could slow down the aging process and help prevent or delay the onset of age-related chronic diseases.
Both studies involved measuring serum sodium, whose presence in the blood increases when we drink less fluid.
The first involved two groups of mice. When one group’s water supply was limited throughout their lives, while the other group was free to drink its fill, the second group lived six months longer. That may not sound like such a big deal, but it’s the equivalent of a person living about 15 years longer.
The second study, whose results were published the end of last year, involved humans, specifically 11,255 adults, whose health data had been collected over 30 years. When the study started in 1987, participants were in their 40s and 50s. When it ended 30 years later, the average age was 76.
Participants with the highest serum sodium levels had a 50% high risk of being biologically older than their calendar age and a 21% higher risk of dying early. Those with the lowest levels had the lowest risk of developing chronic disease.
Or, as the study’s author Natalia Dmitrieva, a researcher at the NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute put it, “The results suggest that proper hydration may slow down aging and prolong a disease-free life.”
This raises the question of how much water is enough.
Water makes up more than half of your body, which it needs for digesting food, creating hormones and neurotransmitters, and delivering nutrients and oxygen to all its organs, About half of the world’s population doesn’t drink enough of it.
The National Academy of Medicine recommends that women drink 91 ounces of water a day, and men 125 ounces (three ounces sort of a gallon). If that seems like a lot to swallow, about 20% of that water can come from other beverages, fruits, vegetable, and soups.
Having more years of life s great, but what kind of years will they be? Will they be years of independence? Will they be years of friendships and socializing, or will they be years of isolation? Will they be years of pursuing your interests and enjoying your hobbies, or years of inactivity and boredom?
The nature of your senior care can make a big difference.
Too many senior care agencies are far better at caring for chronic conditions than for people. That’s because each person is a unique individual, and one-size-fits all senior care can’t adapt to that.
Senior Insights’ holistic senior care management can, because it’s custom-designed for people, not just their health conditions. Each individual’s care is truly individual, because it’s based on what our thorough three-part needs assessment tells us about not just your health, cognitive and psychosocial needs, but also about what matters to you: Your values, your preferences, your likes and dislikes, your relationship with family members and friends, your favorite activities, hobbies and interests.
No one can predict how many years there’ll be in your life. But if you contact us, we can help you put more life in those years.