Writer Kim Jinho's Water and Health Story (72) The Rule of Nine Glasses a Day for 2026: Managing High Blood Pressure and Diabetes

The sun of 2026, the Year of the Red Horse in the Chinese zodiac (丙午年), has risen.

As the new year begins, like the spirit of the red steed galloping across the earth, people register at gyms and purchase expensive nutritional supplements, making grand plans for their health.

However, the true key to health recovery lies unexpectedly in the most essential and closest place. It is 'water,' which comprises 70% of our body.

The three major diseases shaking modern life—cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure—are determined by management in daily life as much as by hospital treatment. Recently, the medical community is paying attention to the fact that going beyond simply quenching thirst, "what kind of water you drink and how you drink it" has become a key variable in managing chronic diseases.

The environment cancer cells hate lies in alkaline minerals

For patients battling cancer, water intake is an essential condition for removing bodily toxins and maintaining immunity. The academic community particularly focuses on 'alkaline water rich in minerals.' Since cancer cells tend to proliferate actively in acidic environments, alkaline ionized water can provide positive help in neutralizing these conditions.

According to research introduced in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN) and other publications, the consumption of mineral water lowers blood viscosity and activates cellular metabolism. In particular, ionized magnesium in water awakens antioxidant enzymes, helping to suppress harmful reactive oxygen species generated during illness.

The power of minerals that cleanse blood vessels and awaken insulin

For diabetic and high blood pressure patients, water is not merely hydration but acts as a natural blood sugar regulator and blood pressure medication.

The world-renowned medical journal 'Diabetes Care' warns that when magnesium is deficient in the body, insulin resistance increases, making blood sugar control difficult. This is because magnesium is the key that opens the door for insulin to transport glucose into cells.

High blood pressure is no different. The 'American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN)' emphasizes that water rich in calcium and magnesium helps sodium excretion and relaxes blood vessel walls, contributing to blood pressure stability.

Health water era opens with scientifically crafted water

As these medical benefits became known, recently functional tumblers and water solutions that convert ordinary filtered water or bottled water into 'magnesium alkaline ionized water' with rapid bodily absorption have garnered attention.

The core of this technology lies in reacting water in its natural state to increase essential mineral content and break water particles into finer sizes. Water with smaller particles rapidly delivers hydration and minerals to every corner of cells. This not only aids recovery for patients undergoing treatment but also serves as an optimal health solution for modern people suffering from chronic fatigue.

The rule of nine glasses a day that saves your body

So how should one drink this beneficial water? The core of the 2026 healthy habit recommended by experts is the rule of nine glasses a day. The water-drinking method introduced in 'Water Knows Health' is as follows.

First, one glass immediately after waking. This is like a shower that thins sticky blood during sleep and expels bodily waste.

Second, seven glasses before, during, and after meals and throughout the day. By replenishing hydration throughout daily life, metabolism is maintained smoothly.

Third, one glass one hour before bed. This becomes precious life water that prevents vascular diseases such as stroke or myocardial infarction that may occur during the night.

What I drink becomes what my body becomes

"A disease that cannot be cured by food cannot be cured by medicine either"—Hippocrates' maxim remains valid today.

In the new year of 2026, if you wish to maximize medicinal effectiveness and enhance your body's natural healing power, you must look into the water glass you drink today. Healthy water where minerals are alive and the consistent habit of drinking nine glasses a day—this will be the most powerful and certain weapon determining the success or failure of health in the age of living to 100.