Too much water or not!

claireliston

Hi there

Most days I drink more than required 8 glasses .... is there such a thing as drinking too much water ... and does this mean I would retain some as well? Your advise would be appreciated to help me towards my end goal. Thanx in advance x

AmyLRed

hmm, i dont know, because i have been doing the same. 12 servings yesterday. I'd love to hear input from others!

olymp1a

Having discussed this issue with my doctor he told me it is almost impossible to reach the "too much water" quantity which is more than 3.5-4 litres per day (that would be 15-18 cups). In such case you can do harm to your kidneys (they will need more effort to pump this water through).

If you are well hydrated there is no fear of retaining excessive amounts of water, dehydration is what makes the body retain.

I usually drink 11-12 cups per day and am perfectly fine (except for those few days in the month when hormones are driving me crazy and well, there is nothing I can do about it).

Hope I helped!

olymp1a

Oh, side note: the 15-18 cups per day correspond to low-medium exercise levels with average sweating. It can go higher if you sweat more!

Lozzielol

I try to aim for half my body weight in oz of water, which for me is around 10 glasses. I can't recall where I've heard this from exactly, but it is quoted often on mfp! I usually get 8 - 9 glasses, then I feel a bit funny if I drink much more than that, so I just listen to my body and make sure I get at least 8 glasses. If i'm thirsty (due to a hotter day etc etc) then I'll drink more.

horror_hamster

the more water the better. it's hard to have "too much" water. You can get water intoxication if you were to drink like... 2 gallons in a VERY short time but what you're drinking is probably FAR from that. yesterday i drank 12-8oz glasses.

It shouldn't make you retain, if anything it should stop you from retaining so before your weigh in day, if you've eaten too much sodium, drink lots of water and it'll flush you out and give you a non-water-retention-weght

summersmi

I agree with 'oliyp1a", it is very difficult to drink too much water. I checked on the Mayo clinic website and found this for how much to drink.
"The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake (AI) for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day. The AI for women is 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day. "

Later in the article it states that drinking too much water is rare in an average adult and that in part has to do not with how much water but in how quickly the water is consumed. i.e. If you drink your eight or so glasses in a single sitting this could be bad.

paulyarwooduk

Hey )

This website (http://www.wateraid.org/uk/get_involved/drink_more_water/1415.asp) allows you to enter your details and it gives you an approximation for the amount of water you need to drink. But I stress that it's approximate...it says I should drink 17 glasses of water a day when I exercise.

Kind regards,
Paul

scotrunner

Too much water can play havoc with the sodium/potassium balance in your cells so unless you are heavily exercising or it's very hot and you are sweating loads it's not a good idea to drink too much more. Sports drinks with electrolytes have been developed to help keep you in balance when you exercise hard over about 45mins/1hr plus. There is a lot of info on the web about drinking too much.

MercenaryNoetic26

Your body will adjust to all the water eventually. That's very good. I'm bad at drinking water. Only way I drink it is with coffee or protein shakes.

katkins3

Too much water can play havoc with the sodium/potassium balance in your cells so unless you are heavily exercising or it's very hot and you are sweating loads it's not a good idea to drink too much more. Sports drinks with electrolytes have been developed to help keep you in balance when you exercise hard over about 45mins/1hr plus. There is a lot of info on the web about drinking too much.

This is very true. My husband wound up in the hospital due to heart palpitations from this exact imbalance. He was drinking 30 cups or more of water a day. The doctors told him to cut back and use sports drinks during exercise.

IronSmasher

I've been drinking 5 litres+ for as long as I can remember. 8 litres a day is common for me.