I know when consumed in huge excess at one time it can deplete electrolytes and be dangerous (water intoxication); but for me it's spread out all day long, obviously I eat throughout the day etc., from what I can find it's pretty rare in a typical individual and mostly a concern for infants or athletes (like marathon runners).
Is there any draw backs to drinking too much? I know the ideal amount varies from person to person to person depending on a lot of factors, so I realize no one can tell me how much I "should" be drinking. Just wondering of there is any drawbacks to drinking a ton.
to be fair, the majority of fatalities have been marathon runners overdoing it and ppl doing drinking contests (ie, a gallon of water at one shot chugging it)
drink according to your thirst, not to some formula. they used to say half your bodyweight in ounces per day - but subsequent studies have shown that drinking to your thirst is perfectly fine.
Last edited by threenorns; 04-11-2012 at 12:46 PM.
No, I don't think a gallon is too much for you in one day (especially if it's pretty evenly spread out over the day). Your body would have an issue if you drank all of it in like two hours (I think 8+ cups an hour is bad for the body or something - don't quote me on that, though).
I drink a lot of water, especially when I'm working hard on something. It's a habit, mostly. I just make sure I don't do too much in too short a time. Other than that, your body can handle it.
This is a great article that describes water intoxication...but please note, a healthy kidney can process up to FIFTEEN LITERS [roughly 4 gallons] of water spread out over a day, so you should be 100% fine.
Thanks! I knew about water intoxication but it doesn't seem like it would apply to me in this particular scenario. Just wondered about any other draw backs.
I definitely have to visit the restroom as many times as when I was 9 months pregnant. I may get to a gallon and a half some days. It seems and feels fine to me, but my DH said he thought I was overdoing it.
Water intoxication can occur over time with smaller amounts of water. Several years ago, my mother was hospitalized with water intoxication (took a while for doctors to figure it out, because she didn't fit the common profile).
She was only drinking a little over a gallon of fluids per day (from coffee, tea, water, and milk). She had no history of kidney problems (though the water intoxication did damage her kidneys, probably permanently).
She was in reasonably good health for her age (around 60 at the time) but was on a low sodium diet and a moderately low dose of blood pressure medication (of a type that preserves potassium, therefore tends to shed sodium).
If you don't eat much salt/sodium or if you're on any prescription or otc medications or supplements, especially diuretics and/or blood pressure medications, you probably should talk to your doctor about your water intake and the risk of water intoxication.
The kidney specialist called in to treat Mom's water intoxication told us that water intoxication is far less rare than it used to be, for a lot of reasons. I've gone into much more detail in previous posts, so if you search on "water intoxication" you'll find some of the threads in which I went into greater detail.
The risk of water intoxication is very low if you're young, very healthy, are eating a typical diet, and are taking no meds or supplements. However, if you have any of the risk factors, it's probably safest to limit total fluid intake to about 3 quarts (that's what we were told anyway).
Water intoxication can occur over time with smaller amounts of water. Several years ago, my mother was hospitalized with water intoxication (took a while for doctors to figure it out, because she didn't fit the common profile).
She was only drinking a little over a gallon of fluids per day (from coffee, tea, water, and milk). She had no history of kidney problems (though the water intoxication did damage her kidneys, probably permanently).
She was in reasonably good health for her age (around 60 at the time) but was on a low sodium diet and a moderately low dose of blood pressure medication (of a type that preserves potassium, therefore tends to shed sodium).
If you don't eat much salt/sodium or if you're on any prescription or otc medications or supplements, especially diuretics and/or blood pressure medications, you probably should talk to your doctor about your water intake and the risk of water intoxication.
The kidney specialist called in to treat Mom's water intoxication told us that water intoxication is far less rare than it used to be, for a lot of reasons. I've gone into much more detail in previous posts, so if you search on "water intoxication" you'll find some of the threads in which I went into greater detail.
The risk of water intoxication is very low if you're young, very healthy, are eating a typical diet, and are taking no meds or supplements. However, if you have any of the risk factors, it's probably safest to limit total fluid intake to about 3 quarts (that's what we were told anyway).
Thank you! Very informative!!! I will make sure I am not too low on sodium. I'm certainly not the picture of health at the moment, but I don't take any meds or supplements (except the occasional multi vitamin). I appreciate your response!!!
Can you drink too much water?
