Quote:
Originally Posted by goldenhaagendazs
no, there's no such thing. i did a research on this a year ago and you basically have to drink gallons and gallons of water right after each one. The only way to ''drink too much water'' is to drown. I dont know how much you weigh right now, but the heavier you are, the more water you should be drinking anyways if you are trying to lose weight.  |
This is NOT true. It can happen, and it does. Even to people who are otherwise healthy. Because the SAD (standard amaricam diet) is so high in sodium, it is very rare (because the danger of water poisoning is almost always from removing too musch sodium from the blood - sometimes other electrolytes, but most often sodium. With too little sodium, the heart stops functioning properly and the person has a heart attack).
There are many factors that contribute to how prone a person will be to sodium depletion.
It can happen several ways. Drining HUGE quantities of water, quickly is one of them, but it can also happen by drinking a more moderate amount "too much" over time.
In the past, it was only seen almost exclusively in
1. extreme athletes, mostly marathon runners (they're losing a lot of electrolytes through sweating, and replacing water - even with electrolyte-added fluids like sports drinks sometimes doesn't replace the sodium fast enough).
2. people trying to flush drugs out of their system to pass a drug screen
(this is the gallons and gallons quickly method).
3. mental patients such as schizophrenics and OCD patients. The meds cause the sensation of a dry mouth, and it can trigger a water drinking compulsion (this is usually the "moderately extra" fluids over a long time, that causes more and more sodium depletion until there's not enough left).
4. people with undiagnosed kidney disfunction.
It is NOT something most people have to worry about, but because it is being seen in more and more healthy people, anyone who does drink more than 3 quarts of water a day, takes blood pressure medications, especially on a low-sodium diet (or whole food diet, without added salt) should at least be familiar with the signs and symptoms of water intoxication/sodium deficit.
It's very flu-like and comes on suddenly, so many people assume they have the flu. It's what my family thought. If my dad (a former Emergency Medicat Technician for a volunteer ambulance service) hadn't been suspicious of the confusion my mom was exhibiting, they would not have gotten her to the emergency room, and she probably would have died with even a couple hours delay. As it was she was in the hospital more than a week (and when does THAT happen anymore. They discharge you the minute it's safe to send you home).
My mom did have high blood pressure, and was on medication, but she was otherwise healthy. She did not have underlying kidney disease, and she was not drinking gallons a day. The kidney specialist said it probably took months for the "extra water" to flush out enough sodium to make her sick.
Too much water?
Not too good.
