Not drinking enough water could increase blood sugars

Tue, 25 Oct 2011
A new study from France has found that people who drink less than a couple of glasses of water every day could be at a greater risk of developing extremely high levels of blood sugar. It was found that adults who consume about only half a litre of water or less a day were more likely to develop blood sugar levels in the pre-diabetes range, as compared to those who drank more water.

However, although the results of the research on over 3,000 French adults between the ages of 30 and 65 with normal blood sugar levels showed a link between water intake and blood sugar, it did not fully prove cause-and-effect.

Around 19 per cent of the participants drank less than half a litre of water per day, while the rest consumed up to a litre or more. During the following nine years, 565 of the participants developed abnormally high levels of blood sugar, while 202 developed type 2 diabetes.

On assessing the risk related to the amount of water consumed, the study showed that those who drank at least half a litre of water per day were 28 per cent less likely to develop high blood sugar than people who drank less.

It seems that a hormone called vasopressin could be the missing link, as it helps regulate water retention. If the body is dehydrated, levels of vasopressin rise, resulting in the kidneys conserving water. In addition, it is thought that higher vasopressin levels could also increase blood sugar levels, as there are vasopressin receptors in the liver, which is responsible for producing glucose in the body.

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