How much water is too much?

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allroundthesun
allroundthesun Posts: 290
in Food and Nutrition
Is there a limit to how much water is beneficial for the body in a 24 hour period? I'm not talking about hyperhydration (water poisoning/intoxication), I'm talking on a smaller scale; is anything above a certain number of cups (12? 14? 16? etc.) in a day, even if spaced out, not *harmful*, but simply useless to the body? Obviously this would vary based on size (and sex?) and activity level, so for the sake of this post, I'm referring to an "ordinary" person in decent shape who does a cardio workout 3-5 times/week and is average in size, not a professional athlete who trains intensively or anything.

I'm finding myself drinking 12 cups/day, sometimes more like 13-15, and it's not harming me, I'm just curious if the health benefits from water have a "ceiling" and if so, how much water can be ingested before that's reached and drinking more water after that is just a preference (again, within a reasonable realm, like <20 cups absolute max., say, not like 50 cups/day or anything extreme) . Anyone know? Thanks!

-- Juliet

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  • EmilyJ1979
    EmilyJ1979 Posts: 144 Member
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    Bump
  • kellybrowning
    kellybrowning Posts: 1 Member
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    About two litres of water a day.more if you exercise :happy:
  • mariteqsw
    mariteqsw Posts: 3
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    You should drink half your body weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 120 lbs you should drink 60 ounces of water.
  • WIQQID
    WIQQID Posts: 13
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    Drinking eight 8-oz glasses of pure water daily is essential to health and weight loss. Not only does it take up a lot of room in your belly, but it helps your body metabolize stored fat. Your kidneys can't function properly without enough water. When kidneys don't work to capacity, some of their work is dumped onto the liver. One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body, but if the liver has to do some of the kidneys' work, it can't operate at full capacity. As a result, it metabolizes less fat and more fat remains stored in the body, and weight loss slows or stops.

    Surprisingly, drinking an ample amount of water is the best treatment for fluid retention! When the body gets less water, it perceives this as a threat to survival and begins to hold on to every drop. Water is then stored outside the cells. This causes swollen feet, legs, and hands. The best way to overcome the problem of water retention is to give your body what it needs: plenty of water! Only then will the stored water be released.

    And for anyone wondering how much is too much.. well healthy kidneys can filter 5 gallons of water/day. Unless you have health issues to where your doctor has advised you to limit fluid intake, it's pretty darn hard to overload on water, so drink up!!
  • mrphil86
    mrphil86 Posts: 2,382 Member
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    Best way to check is your urine color. If it's clear then you are drinking enough and might easy back a little. If it's slightly slightly yellow, then you're good.
  • Juliewarne84
    Juliewarne84 Posts: 1
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    World Health Organisation recommends 2 litres of water a day.

    However, it is a common misconception (brought on by bottled water manufacturers) that all of this should come from drinking water. The majority in fact comes from the food we eat. So even "drinking" 2 litres a day is more than is suggested by the WHO.

    However, it doesn’t really matter. Healthy kidneys are able to remove up to 1 litre of fluid water from the body per hour, so as long as you stay between these levels (although please not at either extreme!!) then it should be fine.
  • whateverdamnit
    whateverdamnit Posts: 130
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    When I have 2 litres of water, I get really light-headed.. I guess that's because I drink it too fast, though. :)
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    For awhile I was drinking about 28-30 cups of water everyday. After about two weeks of that my legs and fingers got swollen and my whole midsection felt "thick" for lack of a better word. I cut down to about 16-20 cups of water per day and the swelling all went down.

    Also, if I drink too much water in too short a period of time (6 cups or more in a hour or so) I get really dizzy and lightheaded and it takes a few hours for it to go away.
  • atomiclauren
    atomiclauren Posts: 689 Member
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    I had wondered the same thing a while back - I gave up a looooong-standing relationship with Diet Coke and bumped up my water intake - I try to average 2 liters daily. I think as long as you feel well, your urine looks good (that looks worse typed than in my head!), and you aren't forcing it then all is well.

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