reader Posted Sunday at 09:39 PM Posted Sunday at 09:39 PM From CNN Health What are you focusing on in the new year to improve your health? Regular exercise, of course, is a proven winner, as is eating plant-based meals. Getting more high-quality sleep, reducing stress, limiting alcohol and connecting with other people in meaningful ways are also key ways to boost well-being. However, there is one behavior change often overlooked when we think about improving our health in the new year: hydration. Water is the elixir of life, but few people make drinking enough a priority. Yet it’s so easy — there are no gyms to join, no meals to prepare, no need to scour the internet for a tasty mocktail — and experts say water’s benefits are almost too numerous to mention. Drinking plenty of water can improve blood pressure, diabetes, joint, gut and kidney health as well as ease migraines and boost the glow of your skin, among other benefits. “Staying optimally hydrated is a relatively easy lifestyle modification with potentially significant benefit: a longer disease-free life,” said Natalia Dmitrieva, a research scientist in the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. How can you add this one small thing to your daily life? Attach drinking a full glass of water to other key routines you do without thinking. Coffee or tea drinker? While you wait for your coffee to perk or your tea kettle to whistle, fill a glass with water (add ice if you prefer, like me) and drink it down while you wait. Continues at https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/05/health/drinking-water-wellness/index.html Quote
