How much water is too much?

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eresin
eresin Posts: 104 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi All,


I've been making a real effort to drink more water and I'm starting to find it easier to get to my 8 glasses a day. I've seen the food diaries of other people and they seen to regularly drink up to 16 glasses a day! Is this healthy? I sometimes feel like 8 glasses is too much and I thought it might be dangerous to drink much more.

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  • Arizona_JR
    Arizona_JR Posts: 275
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    Unless you sit and drink several gallons at once, there is no real risk. Drinking excessive water without replenishing your sodium levels can lead to Hyponatremia, but that typically happens to long distance athletes who don't drink a sports drink or eat food. Add some food into the equation, and it's even harder to over do it. One drawback to drinking 1+ gallons per day.... lots of trips to the potty. :smile:
  • Barelmy
    Barelmy Posts: 590 Member
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    Personally, I feel thirsty, and wake up dehydrated, if I get under 4 litres/16 cups a day. I think, ideally, I need to be drinking more like 5-6 litres/20-24 cups. It varies between people, though.
  • coolsmartygirl
    coolsmartygirl Posts: 299 Member
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    Yeah I was telling some customers about the most water I drank in one day and a coworker chimed in with "watch out drinking too much water is dangerous" I'm not only drink water and drinking it very fast over a short period of time. It is okay to drink a lot of water. I know my shorties buddies had a challenge on friday on who could drink 20 cups in a day.
  • Creiche
    Creiche Posts: 264 Member
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    Everyone needs a different amount depending on their food intake, exercise level, climate, etc. If you feel like you're getting enough with 8 cups, then you're probably fine. Some days I'm fine with 7 or 8 cups, others I'll go up to 16 cups. A rule of thumb I use is to watch my pee (gross I know)...if it's relatively clear, I'm getting enough, if it's really yellow, I probably need more.
  • CharlieBarleyMom
    CharlieBarleyMom Posts: 727 Member
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    I try to work with the equation of -- (body weight in lbs. / 2) = ounces of water to drink per day. This equals 100 ounces for a 200 pound person, 50 ounces for a 100 pound person, 75 ounces for a 150 pound person, etc. At first the trips to the bathroom are excessive (especially after bedtime), but eventually my body craved that much water and I could tell when I wasn't drinking enough -- my feet would swell, I would retain sodium even though I do not eat any added sodium (I don't add salt even when cooking).
  • emilymiesel
    emilymiesel Posts: 216 Member
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    Your daily goal of water should be half your body weight (lbs) in ounces. So a 120lb person should drink at least 60. Drinking more is not bad if you're thirsty! Forcing yourself to drink water all at once can make you sick, stretch out your tummy..there was actually a kid here in AZ who was trying to get in a frat and was told he had to drink a 5gal thing of water in a day, needless to say he drowned himself (internally) to death.
  • michelleengland13
    michelleengland13 Posts: 18 Member
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    I take a gallon of water with me to work and by the time I get home it is empty so I drink over 16 cups a day and feel great. I do the same watching the clarity of (TMI) p. :)
  • cmduncan
    cmduncan Posts: 69
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    I try to work with the equation of -- (body weight in lbs. / 2) = ounces of water to drink per day.

    I follow this rule too. I have also heard you should increase your water consumption on days you work out (adding an oz. for every minute of cardio you do). It takes a while to get used to, but if you're drinking primarily water throughout the day, its not too bad.
  • rebarenee7
    rebarenee7 Posts: 1
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    Hello, this is my personal experience with drinking more water, I thought that I was a fish already. lol. Once I started drinking more water because I was on this detox diet. If I would gain weight my ankles and feet would swell and I noticed that walking would cause me to use the restroom more often and the weight would go down with the swelling. I felt that I was swelling more with the extra water intake. I am not sure that it was the pill or the extra water I was taking. I stopped taking the pill which was a food control pill that would make me feel full longer and stopped the extra water. I stil love to drink water but I think that I may need to make sure that I dont drink too much because I think I retain fluid.
    I heard about this radio contest that a person died because they drank so much water that they drowned. Those people must not be eating much or their stomachs must be stretched so much that they can do that? If you find out anything please let me know.
  • glampixxie
    glampixxie Posts: 85 Member
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    @rebarenee7: you don't "drown" drinking too much water, however, if you chug a lot at once ( like a gallon or two in an hour or less), then you can die. But spreading water intake throughout the day, you can drink it up as you wish. Just don't drink a gallon in an hour or less!
  • significance
    significance Posts: 436 Member
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    There are a lot of myths around about how much water you should drink. There is no need to count a certain number of cups per day. If your pee is a light colour, you are getting enough. If it's a strong yellow colour, you aren't. When working out, you should aim to drink just enough water to replace your sweat (you should neither gain nor lose weight between the start and end of your workout). Water in food and other drinks does help rehydrate you, so you need to take that into account, too.

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