Title says it all, I noticed that I am drinking much more water now that I am counting calories. is there such a thing as too much water? can too much water have any negative effects?
1 glass of water when I wake up 16oz approximately
1 glass with breakfast 16oz approximately
1 glass of crystal light 24 oz approximately with lunch
1 glass between lunch and dinner 16oz approximately
1 glass of either crystal light or water with dinner 24oz approximately
refill the glass half way after dinner and that comes with me to the living room
1 at least 24oz glass that gets sipped on from about 8pm till bed time.
That looks like a lot of water to me lol I do not drink anything but water or crystal light and its much more water than CL usually. and if too much can be a bad thing I can adjust it.
I posed the same question to a sports nutritionist because I drink a minimum of 175 oz. of water a day (just because I like to and I feel great). He basically told me that water toxicity only really happens in elite athletes who consume too much water during strenuous excercise without replenishing their electrolyte balance. Or if someone were to drink a couple gallons of water within a very short time frame. But drinking that much water throughout the entire day is OK.
Personally, if I have a day that breaks my routine and I'm drinking less than 96 oz. of water, I just feel off and incredibly thirsty. I LOVE water. So if you're feeling fine, than I wouldn't worry too much.
Yes, there is such a thing as too much water, it's called water intoxication. If you're on any medications that are processed by or affect the kidneys (most blood pressure medications, and some others) then you should talk to your doctor about how much is too much.
The symptoms can be very vague, when it happened to my mom, she thought she had the flu. She was rambling and not making sense, and it just seemed a bit odd to my father otherwise they wouldn't have taken her to the hospital, and she probably would have died. Water intoxication dilutes the blood and the low levels of electrolytes can cause a heart attack. She was only drinking about a gallon of fluids a day (they all count, even coffee and other cafeinated beverages).
My mother was on a low to moderate dose of blood pressure medication, which did make her more susceptible, but the kidney specialist called in when this happened told us it is happening more amongh healthy "dieters" because of the push to drink tons and tons of water. His recommendation was that my mother and I (I'm on the same medication) drink no more than 3 quarts of liquids, and for my two younger sisters who are healthy on no medications he said that in his opinion, there was really no need for anyone to drink more than a gallon of liquid a day.
But, to find out what's ok for you, talk to your doctor.
I think that "used to be true," as it's certainly what I thought and even taught in community college psychology and health and human development classes. Mentally ill with water compulsions, marathon runners, and people trying to pass a drug screen those were the highest risks, but according to Mom's kidney specialist he is seeing it more and more in healthy people. He attributes it to dieting myths regarding how much water a person should drink, and whether cafeinated beverages are counted (they should be).
He also said that there may be a cumulative effect. For example, mom drinking a gallon of water once in a while may not have caused the water intoxication, but drinking a gallon or more daily for some time put her at greater risk. For someone on no medications with healthy kidneys, it might take 2 gallons or even more, but that they really don't know yet how much is too much for the "average" person.
The condition is called hyponatremia, meaning you don't have enough sodium in your system (Na is the chemical symbol for sodium). That may help if you want to Google it for more information, but be careful - there are a lot of inaccuracies when you Google medical conditions.
I don't know. I would guess probably, because it still isn't overly common. I don't really want to panic anyone, just want to make sure people know it CAN happen, and that drinking more than 12 glasses of fluids certainly isn't necessary for most people, and that caffeinated beverages do count (it's what got mom into trouble, she drank quite a bit of coffee and wasn't counting any of it, and in fact was drinking "extra" water to "compensate" for the coffee, which really isn't necessary).
I think if you drink a lot of water, then you should not also try to eat a diet too low sodium. Sodium is the electrolyte most likely to be depleated in water intoxication. If you feel suddenly ill or weak, light headed, dizzy, or nauseous with or without a headache, it wouldn't be a bad idea to at least suspect water intoxication. Confusion can also be a symptom, but it's a symptom that others may notice before you do. I've seen recommendations to eat salt or something salty if this happens, and others say that you need to go to the emergency room "just in case." The problem of course is that with such "generic" symptoms you could just have the flu.
This also has me wondering because I drink alot of water as that is the only think that I drink, I haven't drank soda for about 8-9 years, do not like tea, and really do not drink any juices either. I will however have a beer or two once a week other than that it is only water for me.....and I do drink alot of water I would say maybe about 10 20oz bottles a day.
Is there such a thing as too much water?
