Can increasing water consumption cause detox? If yes, how long does detox last?

janellevaught
janellevaught Posts: 428 Member
in Food and Nutrition
In the last week or so I have been drinking a 101.4 FL OZ container of water everyday. Prior to this I was maybe only drinking one glass of water a day (if that). Besides having to pee every two seconds, I feel like I am detoxing really bad. While I understand that detox is natural when you are eating better and/or drinking more water, how long does detox last? I just don't want to feel like crap forever and these migraines are getting really bad! I'm sure a lot of it has to do with how many toxins are in your body (which will differ), but I want to get a general idea from others that have experienced this same thing.
«1

Replies

  • seanhamilton
    seanhamilton Posts: 5 Member
    Had to convert that to litres as I have no idea how much a FL OZ is (Yes, we spell it "litre" in Australia). So that's only 2L . It's not like there's a start and a finish with a "detox" as such. It's just your body getting used to change. Stick with it and you'll feel better in time. I cut out wheat, dairy and coffee (I never really ate any sugar) all at the same time 3 months ago and although I felt crappy for the first week or 2, I feel so much better every day now.
  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
    Drink as much water as you need, but realize "detox"ing is a load of crap. If you're getting migraines, drink less - it's one of the signs of dilutional hyponatremia.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    If you replaced caffeine drinks with the water that is likely the cause of your migraines.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    How much methadone are you taking?
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    Also, lol. Migraines can be caused by electrolytic imbalances. Attempting to cause hyponatremia = electrolytic imbalances.

    Quit giving yourself migraines.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    janellevaught wrote: »
    In the last week or so I have been drinking a 101.4 FL OZ container of water everyday. Prior to this I was maybe only drinking one glass of water a day (if that). Besides having to pee every two seconds, I feel like I am detoxing really bad. While I understand that detox is natural when you are eating better and/or drinking more water, how long does detox last? I just don't want to feel like crap forever and these migraines are getting really bad! I'm sure a lot of it has to do with how many toxins are in your body (which will differ), but I want to get a general idea from others that have experienced this same thing.
    100 ounces of water... it's more than I normally drink, but it's not excessive. That said,what else have you changed? Did you swap, say, soda, or diet soda for the water? I'd bet it's either caffeine or sugar "withdrawal" you're feeling, rather than the effects of 100ounces of water.

    signed: had 4 or so 20 ounces bottles of water today
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Drinking more water than your body is used to increases blood pressure and intracranial pressure. Once your body gets used to that much water your blood pressure returns to normal.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    usmcmp wrote: »
    Drinking more water than your body is used to increases blood pressure and intracranial pressure. Once your body gets used to that much water your blood pressure returns to normal.
    Great point. (*)

  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    steve098 wrote: »
    Try "detoxing" by making your first meal of the day at noon- water fasting in the morning. You will notice real changes.

    That doesn't detox anything. There's no such thing as a detox. Skipping breakfast (or eating breakfast) has zero magical powers. It's just a way to save calories for later in the day. Fasting for 16 hours does have a slight increase in metabolism towards the end, but most people are so highly inaccurate with logging food that it negates any benefit they might get.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    steve098 wrote: »
    Try "detoxing" by making your first meal of the day at noon- water fasting in the morning. You will notice real changes.
    Ignore this poster, known fraud.
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
    dbmata wrote: »
    steve098 wrote: »
    Try "detoxing" by making your first meal of the day at noon- water fasting in the morning. You will notice real changes.
    Ignore this poster, known fraud.

    +1

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    steve098 wrote: »
    Try "detoxing" by making your first meal of the day at noon- water fasting in the morning. You will notice real changes.
    Steve, you've become a parody of a parody.
  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    If you replaced caffeine drinks with the water that is likely the cause of your migraines.

    This was my first thought too. I get a wicked caffeine withdrawal headache if I skip my morning coffee.
  • janellevaught
    janellevaught Posts: 428 Member
    edited October 2014
    I used to drink about 5 bottles of 20 oz regular coke or cherry coke per week. So it probably is the caffeine withdrawal. I didn't even connect that.

    Also, I had never heard of hyponatremia. Good information to know.

    Thank you everyone.
  • AllieUK
    AllieUK Posts: 22 Member
    You can get sick from drinking too much water, but at 2L a day you are nowhere near getting ill from it. I started drinking 3L a day and you will need to pee all the time, but you will come to find that a lot of the time you were hungry, you were actually just thirsty.

    Drinking water helps you lose weight, clears your skin, gives you energy etc. But you will also have to start planning your life around toilets if you drink too much!

    Also, don't drink a lot of water at once, you will get a sore tummy, better to sip water regularly instead of down it all at once!
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    janellevaught wrote: »
    I used to drink about 5 bottles of 20 oz regular coke or cherry coke per week. So it probably is the caffeine withdrawal. I didn't even connect that.

    Yep - Caffeine withdrawal is brutal - for me it lasted about a week then all was fine.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    janellevaught wrote: »
    I used to drink about 5 bottles of 20 oz regular coke or cherry coke per week. So it probably is the caffeine withdrawal. I didn't even connect that.

    Yep - Caffeine withdrawal is brutal - for me it lasted about a week then all was fine.
    probably partly caffeine and partly sugar WD for the OP.

    Stick with it, it will pass soon as this poster says.

  • janellevaught
    janellevaught Posts: 428 Member
    AllieUK wrote: »
    You can get sick from drinking too much water, but at 2L a day you are nowhere near getting ill from it. I started drinking 3L a day and you will need to pee all the time, but you will come to find that a lot of the time you were hungry, you were actually just thirsty.

    Drinking water helps you lose weight, clears your skin, gives you energy etc. But you will also have to start planning your life around toilets if you drink too much!

    Also, don't drink a lot of water at once, you will get a sore tummy, better to sip water regularly instead of down it all at once!

    So the peeing every two seconds doesn't stop?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    janellevaught wrote: »
    AllieUK wrote: »
    You can get sick from drinking too much water, but at 2L a day you are nowhere near getting ill from it. I started drinking 3L a day and you will need to pee all the time, but you will come to find that a lot of the time you were hungry, you were actually just thirsty.

    Drinking water helps you lose weight, clears your skin, gives you energy etc. But you will also have to start planning your life around toilets if you drink too much!

    Also, don't drink a lot of water at once, you will get a sore tummy, better to sip water regularly instead of down it all at once!

    So the peeing every two seconds doesn't stop?

    It stops but only for two seconds. You're possibly drinking a lot more water than you need. Drinking excessive water won't make you lose weight. There are no calories in water so it has an affect on your health but doesn't affect your weight much at all.

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    seanhamilton wrote: »
    Had to convert that to litres as I have no idea how much a FL OZ is (Yes, we spell it "litre" in Australia). So that's only 2L . It's not like there's a start and a finish with a "detox" as such. It's just your body getting used to change. Stick with it and you'll feel better in time. I cut out wheat, dairy and coffee (I never really ate any sugar) all at the same time 3 months ago and although I felt crappy for the first week or 2, I feel so much better every day now.

    Actually, it's more like 3L (assuming OP is in US). 1 cup, or 8 FL OZ, is 240 ml (or .24L) in the U.S. So 101.4/8 * .24 = 3.033L

    Only bothering to point this out because people later in the thread seem to pick up the assumption that it's 2L, and I don't know whether it would make a difference in their views to know that it's 50% more than they thought.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    janellevaught wrote: »
    I used to drink about 5 bottles of 20 oz regular coke or cherry coke per week. So it probably is the caffeine withdrawal. I didn't even connect that.

    Also, I had never heard of hyponatremia. Good information to know.

    Thank you everyone.

    Caffeine withdrawal can be pretty wicked. A full week seems kind of long to me for caffeine withdrawal symptoms to go on, especially when you weren't even having a bottle of soda every day, but I guess everybody is different.

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,347 Member
    Caffeine withdrawal is a b!tch. I used to bring upwards of 10 Espressos a day, and coming off that was brutal. It will pass, and the water ought to help. Don't be afraid to take some painkillers, and Tylenol Migraine (if you're in the States) actually contains a bit of caffeine.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
    janellevaught wrote: »
    In the last week or so I have been drinking a 101.4 FL OZ container of water everyday. Prior to this I was maybe only drinking one glass of water a day (if that). Besides having to pee every two seconds, I feel like I am detoxing really bad. While I understand that detox is natural when you are eating better and/or drinking more water, how long does detox last? I just don't want to feel like crap forever and these migraines are getting really bad! I'm sure a lot of it has to do with how many toxins are in your body (which will differ), but I want to get a general idea from others that have experienced this same thing.

    No.
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    3 liters is a bit high, but other than peeing too much probably won't harm you.
    (And it isn't doing a thing about the toxins in your body. Those are handled by the liver & kidneys. If those aren't functioning, there's nothing you can do but check in to a hospital.)

    A discussion of some problems that can come from drinking too much water:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

    Here's a much more technical discussion of low sodium, with links to other related topics:
    http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/hormonal_and_metabolic_disorders/electrolyte_balance/hyponatremia_low_level_of_sodium_in_the_blood.html
  • tuckabeau
    tuckabeau Posts: 4 Member
    For healthy weight loss you should drink one half your body weight in ounces. Weigh 200 lbs. drink 100 oz. of water.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    tuckabeau wrote: »
    For healthy weight loss you should drink one half your body weight in ounces. Weigh 200 lbs. drink 100 oz. of water.

    No.
  • janellevaught
    janellevaught Posts: 428 Member
    Once again, thank you everyone for your feedback.
  • janellevaught
    janellevaught Posts: 428 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    seanhamilton wrote: »
    Had to convert that to litres as I have no idea how much a FL OZ is (Yes, we spell it "litre" in Australia). So that's only 2L . It's not like there's a start and a finish with a "detox" as such. It's just your body getting used to change. Stick with it and you'll feel better in time. I cut out wheat, dairy and coffee (I never really ate any sugar) all at the same time 3 months ago and although I felt crappy for the first week or 2, I feel so much better every day now.

    Actually, it's more like 3L (assuming OP is in US). 1 cup, or 8 FL OZ, is 240 ml (or .24L) in the U.S. So 101.4/8 * .24 = 3.033L

    Only bothering to point this out because people later in the thread seem to pick up the assumption that it's 2L, and I don't know whether it would make a difference in their views to know that it's 50% more than they thought.

    You are correct...I am in the U.S.

Categories