How much water is too much?

RosscoBoscko
RosscoBoscko Posts: 632 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi,

For the last couple of weeks I have been trying to drink 3-4 litres of water per day and yesterday ended up drinking 4.5 litres. Whilst I feel fine with this one of my friends is adamant that this much water is unhealthy, and that people have died from drinking too much water, but I always thought this was people who had taken recreational drugs, so their bodies were not regulating properly but am now unsure if this was the case.

Does any one have any advise on a safe level of intake?

Thanks

Replies

  • Illona88
    Illona88 Posts: 903 Member
    This comes from a radio show where someone had to drink loads of water to win a Wii.
    She got water intoxication and her kidneys failed. She drank 7,5 liters in one go.

    You body can actually have up to a max. of 15 liters of water a day (absolute max).
    The problem comes when you drink too much in one go. Spread it out.
  • start121
    start121 Posts: 38 Member
    Yeh the water thing has become really confusing because everyone keeps saying drink lots (and they are talking about litres!). But I've recently heard from a nutritionalist that this is not good and that the estimated 3 litres of fluid we need each day also includes the water from food as well as other drinks etc. yes drinking water is great (although I too have heard about people dying from too much fluid intake), because it's nice and 'clean' but basically find the amount you need that means you need to pee a few times a day and the colour is a 'hay like' shade. This way you are not flushing lots of nutrients out of your system, but you are staying hydrated.

    I drink about 1.5 litres a day (but I don't drink tea/coffee or soft drinks - it's my only fluid intake), although I don't count what I drink at the gym on the days I train - that's to replace the buckets I lose during my session.

    Hope this helps.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    People have indeed died from drinking too much - the recreational drugs may have created the thirst sensation or affected judgement but it was the drinking of too much water that put Leah Betts in a coffin. One of the attending doctors said if she had put a teaspoon of salt in each litre she would have survived.

    Another case was a woman trying to win an iFad or something on a radio phone-in in California.

    The water necessary for hydration comes from food and all sources including drinks / beverages other than pure water. You only need to be hydrated, beyond that you drink more, pee more, lose more electrolytes and achieve nothing. UK guidance is about 1.3 litres a day from memory (from all sources).

    There is no point at all trying to drink several litres of water a day.

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