is there such thing as drinking to much water?

Starlight_Shine

I hear that women should only drink 2- 2 1/2 L of water and men should drink 3-4L of water but I drink 4L of water!!!! is that bad? should I be slowing down? I really can't help it I just want water!!! I do pee a lot though so that should be a good thing right?

Koldnomore

It's Not How Much You Drink, It's How Fast You Drink It!

The kidneys of a healthy adult can process fifteen liters of water a day! You are unlikely to suffer from water intoxication, even if you drink a lot of water, as long as you drink over time as opposed to intaking an enormous volume at one time. As a general guideline, most adults need about three quarts of fluid each day. Much of that water comes from food, so 8-12 eight ounce glasses a day is a common recommended intake. You may need more water if the weather is very warm or very dry, if you are exercising, or if you are taking certain medications. The bottom line is this: it's possible to drink too much water, but unless you are running a marathon or an infant, water intoxication is a very uncommon condition.

From : http://chemistry.about.com/cs/5/f/blwaterintox.htm

TKHappy

There is something called water intoxication! I don't know enough about it but this is where Google would be your friend! I know that it's not common and most people usually don't drink enough water.

AnvilHead

Yes, there is. It is called Water Intoxication.

..and it's very rare. You might run into problems if you do something silly like chug about two gallons of water in 15 minutes, but 4 liters of water taken gradually throughout the course of an entire day (some people drink even considerably more than that) is highly unlikely to cause any problems unless you already have a screwed up electrolyte balance.

Google "hyponatremia".

Starlight_Shine

Wow never knew that! well I will drink at least 3 L then! I read up on it and its kinda scary. At least I don't chug a L in every hour I would say my L last 3-4 hours so I guess that's a good thing!

Starlight_Shine

Yeah well I do drink it slow! 1L last me for 3-4 hours

yaryrosa

I'm not an expert, but this is what I understand:

When you drink a lot of water, you clean your system of toxins and trash, but electrolytes could also get washed out too, making you even more thirsty. The body needs the electrolytes to properly process and retain the water to hydrate itself. If your pee is 100% clear, you may be missing some of these minerals and not really processing the water.

Make sure you have your electrolytes consumption high, especially potasium and magnesium, which a lot of diets dismiss. Sodium is usually not a problem, actually most people overdo the sodium, which actually lowers potasium even more.