Drinking Water: The Secret to a Longer, Healthier Life

As the New Year begins, many of us are looking to improve our overall health. While regular exercise and a plant-based diet are effective ways to improve your well-being, getting enough sleep, reducing stress, limiting alcohol, and engaging in active socializing are just as important.

But there’s one health habit that’s often overlooked when making plans to improve your health in the New Year: drinking water. Water is considered the “elixir of life,” yet few people prioritize drinking enough of it.

It’s so simple—it doesn’t require a gym membership, special meal prep, or finding alcohol-free drinks. However, the benefits of water are so numerous that it’s hard to list them all. Drinking enough water can boost your blood pressure, help control diabetes, improve joint, digestive, and kidney health, relieve headaches, and give your skin a healthy glow.

“Staying perfectly hydrated is one of the easiest lifestyle changes you can make, and it has a huge benefit: a longer, disease-free life,” says Natalia Dmitrieva, PhD, a researcher at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Maryland.

How do you make drinking water part of your daily routine?

Adding a glass of water to your daily routine can be as simple as incorporating it into other regular activities.

With coffee or tea: While you’re waiting for the water to boil or the coffee to brew, drink a glass of water.

While walking: If you’re walking your dog, grab a stainless steel or ceramic water bottle (avoid plastic) and drink it before you get back.

While stretching: When you get up to stretch, grab a glass of water before you sit down again.

While heating food: Drink a full glass of water while you wait for your meal to heat up.

Habit-building experts say that attaching a new habit to an old one makes it easier to remember and implement. So drinking water while you’re waiting for something to happen is a great way to combine tasks.

Are you dehydrated without realizing it?

Statistics show that many Americans don’t drink enough water each day, says Dmitrieva, who has studied the relationship between hydration and aging.

Many health authorities recommend that women drink about 8 to 10 glasses of water a day and men 10 to 12 glasses. However, more than half of Americans don’t meet these amounts.

The main reason, Dmitrieva explains, is that many people don’t consciously think about how much water they should be drinking, and they’re often unaware of health recommendations.

Another problem is that many rely on feeling thirsty to drink water, which is too late. “Thirst often occurs when we’re already dehydrated, which means the negative effects of dehydration have already begun,” Dmitrieva warns.

How do you get your fluids?

You don’t have to rely on water alone to meet your body’s needs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that beverages like unsweetened coffee or tea, soda, and low-calorie flavored waters are good options. But sugary drinks like juice, energy drinks, and soda should be avoided.

Some foods that are high in water, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, oranges, and lettuce, can also help hydrate your body.

Practical tips for daily hydration

Try to drink 2 to 3 liters of water a day under normal circumstances, and increase the amount if you are doing intense physical activity or exposed to high heat.

Start your day by filling a 32-ounce water bottle and make sure to drink it throughout the day along with any other drinks.

Toward the end of the day, compare what you drank to what you need. If you didn’t reach the required amount, fill the bottle again and drink more.

Caring for your body begins with the simple things, and drinking water may be the secret to a longer, healthier life.