Staying Properly Hydrated Could Help You Ward Off Diabetes

Some scientists say the amount of water you drink could affect how your body regulates blood sugar — and possibly ward off diabetes.

In work published last year in Diabetes Care, a publication of the American Diabetes Association, French scientists tracked more than 3,000 healthy men and women ages 30 to 65 for nearly a decade, all of whom had normal blood sugar levels when the study began.

After nine years, about 800 had developed Type 2 diabetes or high blood sugar — but those who drank the most water, 17 to 34 ounces a day, had a risk roughly 30 percent lower than that of those who drank the least water.

While more research is needed to confirm the connection between water intake and diabetes, researchers believe the hormone vasopressin, which helps regulate water retention, could play a role. When the body is dehydrated, vasopressin levels rise, which prompts our kidneys to hold onto fluids and pushes the liver to produce blood sugar — which may over time strain our bodies’ ability to produce or respond to insulin.