How much water is too much water?

katylil
katylil Posts: 223 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm drinking around 8 litres a day at the moment! Closer to 10L if I've been to the gym.

Good or bad?

Replies

  • brandoncomer
    brandoncomer Posts: 33
    That's awesome.
  • katylil
    katylil Posts: 223 Member
    Hurrah! I was just a bit worried as it does sound like a lot.
  • futureshopaholic
    futureshopaholic Posts: 64 Member
    If your body is telling you that you need it then it's fine!

    "To exceed the body's ability to excrete water, a young adult with normal kidney function would have to drink more than 6 gallons of water a day on a regular basis." 6 gallons = 22 litres


    http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/hormonal_and_metabolic_disorders/water_balance/overhydration.html
  • jigsaw_me
    jigsaw_me Posts: 616 Member
    If I have more than 2litres a day I get extremely tired and lethargic. So I need to keep my water intake below this amount.
  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
    water intoxication can occur when people drink a lot of fluid very quickly. But you'd feel ill pretty quickly if that happened
  • katylil
    katylil Posts: 223 Member
    If your body is telling you that you need it then it's fine!

    "To exceed the body's ability to excrete water, a young adult with normal kidney function would have to drink more than 6 gallons of water a day on a regular basis." 6 gallons = 22 litres


    http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/hormonal_and_metabolic_disorders/water_balance/overhydration.html

    Thank you!! This is what I needed to hear haha.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I'm drinking around 8 litres a day at the moment! Closer to 10L if I've been to the gym.

    Good or bad?

    Pointless ?
  • katylil
    katylil Posts: 223 Member
    I'm drinking around 8 litres a day at the moment! Closer to 10L if I've been to the gym.

    Good or bad?

    Pointless ?

    Sorry, is it the question or the water that is pointless?
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    I'm drinking around 8 litres a day at the moment! Closer to 10L if I've been to the gym.
    Why? If you're thirsty fair enough but if your just drinking it for the sake of it. that's pretty pointless and all it will achieve is to make you visit the bathroom lots. Your body has a perfectly good mechanism to tell you when you need water it's called thirst. There is so much water in foods etc. If your following the 8 glasses a day nonsense it actually has no basis in science and was first suggested by a Mineral water company
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Why on earth would you want to drink that much? If you really are that thirsty I would suggest seeing your Doctor.

    There is a weird "group think" on MFP that drinking plainly excessive amounts of water has some kind of mysterious benefit.

    You might be interested in reading this article:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24464774

    "If you drink too much you pee it out. If you drink too little you get thirsty and pee less. It's all exquisitely well-controlled in the same way that your intake of oxygen is well-controlled.

    Saying that you should drink more water than your body asks for is like saying that you should consciously breathe more often than you feel like because if a little oxygen is good for you then more must be better."
  • jimjamsjet
    jimjamsjet Posts: 57 Member
    There is no reason to be drinking that much water.
  • fujiko
    fujiko Posts: 58 Member
    That sounds like a lot, but if you feel well then listen to your body. The thing is, even if you're over hydrated, you will have similar symptoms to dehydration, so a dry mouth, head ache etc, I assume you could get the impression that you're thirsty, even though you aren't. The problem really is that your flushing out all your sodium but as someone mentioned above, it needs to be a lot and is quite rare that it happens.

    I'm guilty of drinking a lot too, but it's mostly when I'm bored, watching a movie and so on, instead of snacking I sip on water...

    http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2012/12/13/3653639.htm

    EDIT: I can't spell...
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    Oh my word. Cant believe what everybody is saying here. 8-10 litres daily is potentially dangerous. Rare that something happens, but it is naive to say that there is nothing wrong with it: -

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

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6263029.stm

    Furthermore, it is just unnecessary. People who drink lots of water suffer from the sensation of feeling thirsty when they actually are not. You could well be within this cycle. I would hedge a bet you are.
  • LooseWheel
    LooseWheel Posts: 211 Member
    Keep an eye on the colour of your pee. Although if taking vitamins and supplements, this may be deceiving. Doctor told me I was drinking too much but still felt thirsty all the time. (All else has been checked, I just drink too much water). Thirst can be give off the same feeling as hunger. good stuff to have too much of of a good thing rather than not enough. Go get a blood test and seek advice for sodium levels, blood sugars etc. full blood check will let you know if too much is going on. Too much can be not so good as well. Get a starting point with good advice from your doc. :)
  • katylil
    katylil Posts: 223 Member
    Thank you for all the replies and concern.

    I'm not forcing myself to drink that much. I work in a heated/air-conditioned office and keep a 1.5L bottle by my side and just drink when I feel like it. Sometimes I only have 3L, other times (like the past few days), I've had 8L.

    I have actually got an appointment with my doc this week for something else so will mention it and see what she says :)
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    Thank you for all the replies and concern.

    I'm not forcing myself to drink that much. I work in a heated/air-conditioned office and keep a 1.5L bottle by my side and just drink when I feel like it. Sometimes I only have 3L, other times (like the past few days), I've had 8L.

    I have actually got an appointment with my doc this week for something else so will mention it and see what she says :)

    Fair enough. I would repeat what I said above - you can feel thirsty without actually being thirsty. More like an unnecessary craving. If I were you I would take note of how much you are drinking and balance it out. Obviously account for more if you are exercising. But dont let your thirst sensation dictate to you. It will go after a while if you stick to it like most things.
  • adrianmg
    adrianmg Posts: 28 Member
    As some of the other posters have suggested, it is not just about your ability to pee it out.

    Google for "water intoxication" which can occur if you have too much water in a short space of time. Basically the change in dilution of salts changes the equilibrium at various places in your body where it's just osmotic pressure stopping too much water normally passing through, including your brain. Change that equilibrium and it's a bit like punching holes in the membrane, fluid starts getting through fairly easily. It is extremely hazardous, can and does cause death, and has been a problem at city marathons where inexperienced and poorly-advised runners start taking on too much water too soon.

    8 litres on top of what you get from food seems a lot. It probably is not at those extremes, but I'd be inclined not to increase it, and certainly avoid having a large part of that in a short part of the day.
  • seffti
    seffti Posts: 7
    I was told by my dietician that we are supposed to drink half our weight in ounces of water. For example: if you weigh 100lbs, you should be drinking 50 ounces of water. I hope that helps! :happy:
  • BelleVegan77
    BelleVegan77 Posts: 70 Member
    That is so amazing! If you are worried though you know you can download apps that will tell you how much you need for your gender/ body weight. They will even remind you to drink!
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    I was told by my dietician that we are supposed to drink half our weight in ounces of water. For example: if you weigh 100lbs, you should be drinking 50 ounces of water. I hope that helps! :happy:

    That's a guideline I have read too... that said I just use it as a guideline. If I am thirsty, I drink. If I am not, I don't.
  • smn76237
    smn76237 Posts: 318 Member
    Lol I can't believe anyone could possibly rag on you for drinking too much water. Sure, you don't *need* to drink that much, but unless you drink a very very large amount in a very very short amount of time (water intoxication is real but under very extreme circumstances), the only negative side effects are 1) peeing more. And that's about it.

    Plus, if drinking water keeps you from drinking caloric beverages in its place or unnecessarily snacking, I say keep it up.

    Now if you're drinking that much because you're always thirsty, that could signal health problems (but reading your posts makes it seem like that is not the case).
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    I was told by my dietician that we are supposed to drink half our weight in ounces of water. For example: if you weigh 100lbs, you should be drinking 50 ounces of water. I hope that helps! :happy:

    That's a guideline I have read too... that said I just use it as a guideline. If I am thirsty, I drink. If I am not, I don't.

    I do the same. Drink when I am thirsty and don't when I'm not. Some days I drink a LOT of water and other days not so much, so I believe it balances all out in the end
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    I think there are a lot of people that drink more water than they really need to.
  • sad_kitty
    sad_kitty Posts: 84 Member
    Urine colour is also a good indicator of what your water intake should be, provided you're otherwise healthy (ie no renal or other health issues that affect renal function). If it's very dark and concentrated (outside of 1st thing in the morning), you probably need to up your fluid intake. If urine is too pale, you may be consuming too much, or may need to boost sodium intake a smidge to retain some water, so as not to become mildly electrolyte imbalanced. Water intoxication would be a serious hyponatremia and generally you'd have warning symptoms before it got to that point, though it can happen. Where salt goes, water follows. If you're otherwise healthy, drink if you're thirtsy, or if your urine is too concentrated. Generally I just listen to my body on this one.

    Mind you certain medications and foods like beets can alter urine colour, so keep in mind if gauging by colour.

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