Water

binsylad
binsylad Posts: 99
in Introduce Yourself
Ok, Daft question spoiler.....

Is it possible to drink too much water?

I have been averaging approx 1.5 litres of pure water, then another 1.5 litres in Tea, Coffee, Orange Squash....

What are your thoughts?

Mike / 40 / London

Replies

  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
    Yes you can damage your kidneys! That would be more likely to happen if you suddenly massively increased your intake. Back in my day when e was all the rage everyone was advised to drink lots of water with it. This caused damage all by itself lots of water and some salty snacks when you are dancing was the key point.

    Also cells try to keep everything balanced so they will absorb water to keep everything at a level. Eventually if you dilute your natural salt levels too much the cells absorb so much water they burst! Hence the advise to eat salty food too and the whole isotonic drink thing.
  • lcfairbairn74
    lcfairbairn74 Posts: 412 Member
    You can take in too much water. But, unless you have a pre-existing kidney condition, 3 litres is not overdoing it in my opinion.

    I drink 6 to 7 litres a day as a comparison :wink:
  • AppleWoo214
    AppleWoo214 Posts: 6 Member
    There is a such thing as water poisoning, as roxylola explained. If you are staying active, you should replenish, but at least 10 glasses of water a day is normal h2o intake guidelines... 100 oz is my plan, that's about 2.9 liters.
  • fairfatandfabulous
    fairfatandfabulous Posts: 28 Member
    I think 3L of fluid per day is about average. Well it is for me.
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
    You can definitely cut out the orange squash if you are already drinking 1.5L of water a day. It's unnecessary for you to be drinking that much. As for tea & coffee, I drink 2-3 cups of coffee per day on top of my 1.5L of water and it's done me no harm.
  • missybct
    missybct Posts: 321 Member
    I'm constantly drinking water to be honest, but it's not one glass at a time - I've always been very good at just keeping myself hydrated a lot.

    I generally average about 8 glasses a day, and then about 3-4 herbal teas. It's sometimes more (heat, gym workout for example) and it is sometimes less. I tend to drink water from the tap rather than mineral, although I do drink soda water/sparkling water a bit too (I try not to drink too much, but my reasoning is it's better than diet soda).

    You can drink too much, but I think it really does depend on the food you eat, the amount of activity you do/don't do and your body temperature. What is a lot to one person is nothing to another depending on the environment and we adapt to that. Don't force it down, but gradually bring it up rather than putting your body into freak out mode by flushing yourself out!
  • mittens817
    mittens817 Posts: 14 Member
    I have read that you are supposed to drink half your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 200lbs. you should be drinking 100 oz. of water per day. I am finding it hard to even get close to half my weight!!!
  • Cyclingbonnie
    Cyclingbonnie Posts: 413 Member
    Yes you can drink too much water and it is called hyponatremia when it gets to a dangerous level. Hard to drink this much. In most cases it is due to some other medical reason and the kidneys are not functioning properly. However, in situations where you are perspiring profusely and drinking a lot to compensate you can find yourself there. Happened to me when I was hiking the AT, I didn't get so far that it was unrecoverable. I laid down in the middle of the trail, ate salted peanuts until I felt better. Some people call it water intoxication, you display many of the same symptoms as dehydration and you can also appear to be drunk.

    Basically it is an imbalance of sodium and water in your system. Too much water and too little sodium, wow, who would think that is possible.
  • binsylad
    binsylad Posts: 99
    You can take in too much water. But, unless you have a pre-existing kidney condition, 3 litres is not overdoing it in my opinion.

    I drink 6 to 7 litres a day as a comparison :wink:

    Wow - That is some high amount of water intake!

    Thanks for the advice!
  • rassha01
    rassha01 Posts: 534 Member
    I wouldn't try drinking a lake!

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  • cmfaris8
    cmfaris8 Posts: 39
    I drink about a gallon and a half a day (5-6 liters) throughout my day. I've been doing it for years and have never had an issue with it, except having to use the restroom every hour. I know you can OD on water but I believe that is if you drink too much at one time.

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