I have a serious question about water. I think I'm drinking too much water, and I read some where that too much water can kill you. This is scary but anyway I'm always thirsty and I need to stop. I don't want anything to happen to me. So basically I want to know how much water should I consume daily? I think I'm drinking about 6 glasses of water a day or maybe more, I don't really know, and also when I exercise I feel so dehydrated, can some one please explain why is this happening to me please help me. I read some where you should drink water before you exercise and after because of the sweat, but I don't really know, you girls give the best advice so please help me out.

Also I made a post about Milk and I decided to buy 2% milk and its great. I think Im a stick to that now.

It depends how big those 6 glasses are. But they say you should have at least 8 8oz (2 liters) glasses a day (even more when losing weight... has something to do with body weight, I am sure someone knows). Some days I drink as much as 3-4 liters (16 8oz glasses). I am sure you are not drinking TOO much.

Hi. first, congratulations on your 30 lb loss! Now, 6 glasses of water a day is not going to kill you. You can and should have more.

Here's the reason people die from too much water (i'm in med school and we just did this a few weeks ago): There have been cases of marathon runners drinking too much water and dying. They are running and sweating for 3 or 4 hours and in their sweat, they're losing lots and lots of salt. Salts are important for your heart, your nervous system, your muscles, etc. etc. So these people are sweating a lot of salt out and replacing the sweat with a lot of water at each station. Water obviously doesnt have the electrolytes you need, their concentration of salt drops, and it's the lack of salts that will kill them.

I'm assuming you're not exercising for 3 or 4 hours straight and sweating heavily for that entire time. If you are, then drink gatorade or something to replace all the lost electrolytes. If you're not, drink more water. It's good for you. Helps you lose weight. You'll pee it out and your body will conserve all the salts you need.

Now excessive thirst is a sign of diabetes. Maybe you should talk to your doctor if it keeps up.

good luck, shawna

Thanks for the great answer Shawna! Wow I certainly drink a LOT more than 6 glasses of water a day. Your answer makes sense! When I first moved to the Philippines (lived there 2 years) I found myself getting weak and my friends told me I needed to eat more salt because we were out running around on the streets so much (worked with street kids and the extreme poor) and were sweating so heavily! Sure enough... it helped!

Thanks Shawna for that helpful/medical comment. I exercise for about 30 to 40 minutes so I'm not sweating buckets, but I'm always thirsty. Also I'm not Diabetic(thanks to God). Diabetes runs in my family, so I was definitely scared about that. I really don't know why I'm thirsty whenever I brush my teeth I'm not thirsty anymore. Its weird. I need advice about drinking water while exercise, because I'm constantly thirsty during exercise. Why is that?

Hi Motivation

Could be you just need more water than most people. I am that way... I am never without it and even take a water bottle to bed! People in the past have recommended diabetic testing for me also, but I am fine in that respect. Actually I think 6 glasses a day is a very small amount IMO. You probably really do need more than that. But just my opinion; I am certainly no expert, I emphasize!

Agreed... six glasses isn't all that much unless they are... I dunno... 40 oz coolers or something! I am drinking about five 20 oz cups a day, so not quite a gallon a day, and I have been feelling swell...

Good luck and keep drinking... but do talk to your doc about feeling dehydrated!

-Lala

I think you'd have to drink an awful lot of water for any damage to occur! And speaking of death by drinking, this is kind of a fun time-wasting site:

http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine/

LOL great site, Kate. I found out it would take 128 cups of my coffee to kill me LOL

wow it took over 250 diet pepsi cans to kill me!

I don't believe itll kill you, but if you get A LOT of it at once it will. I think drinking like, 4 gallons in 15 minutes could do it. well.... maybe more but there is a time factor!

There might be a chance that it is a medical issue. Go to the doctor and have your blood sugar tested, excessive thirst is one sign of diabetes.

death by coca cola classic would take 343 cans to kill me!!! i'd kill myself if i had to drink that many in one day!!

i would also talk to your doctor about your constant thirst. could be more to it.

killing yourself by drinking too much water is VERY hard to do. IMO, drinking 6 glasses of water of any size, unless they are gallon containers will not hurt you. if you are thirsty, drink more. the reason drinking too much water can be bad for you is because if you drink alot, you will dilute the electrolytes in your blood. these electrolytes govern important bodily functions. one of the most important would be to keep your heart beating. once your electrolytes are lowered to a severe degree, you will have heart arrhythmias, which can be deadly. this is the same reason why it is bad to become dehydrated and why people who play sports drink gatorade or other sports drinks to replenish these electrolytes. your 6 glasses of water will not make you overly hydrated. in fact, it sounds like your 6 glasses aren`t enough. drink more. 64 ounces is the recommended amount of water to drink. but keep in mind your body actually takes in way more fluid than that per day. all foods we eat have some level of moisture to them. your body can handle a wide range of fluid intake before becoming dehydrated or overly hydrated.

What I did is I went to Walgreens and got one of those water bottles...it fills with the average amount of water you should be drinking in a day. I try to drink one full bottle and day and then when I work out I bring a smaller bottle. So I usally drink more then the one bottle. But it helps me to know if Im getting enough water. But 6 glasses a day is not enough to Kill you. You probably just need to drink more water. For me it was really hard at first because I never drank water when I wasnt dieting. It takes awhile for your body to get used to it.

I agree with the other posters. Your thirsty, because you need more water. Besides if you were going to kill yourself by drinking water, you would get symptoms like ringing in the ears, feeling disoriented, ect If your thristy drink water. Basically you are dehydrated. We should be drinking long before we are ever thirsty.