How much is TOO MUCH water?

ayshamc
ayshamc Posts: 226 Member
edited October 1 in Health and Weight Loss
I read an article recently on a lady in the US that entered some kind of Water Drinking competition to win a Wii. She complained later in the day of having headaches and then died not long after that - they said the cause of death was Water Intoxication.

I have started to drink a large amount of Water - obviously no where near what that lady consumed, but it's a large amount for me.

I buy a 75cl (750ml) bottle of Evian, I drink that in the morning at the Gym whilst working out and from then on use a small amount of no added squash with Water in the same 750ml bottle throughout the day. I can sometimes drink another 3 or 4 of these throughout the day up until I go to bed. Which is about 3 Litres.

I actually feel some days that I could drink more - I sweat alot at the gym and it feels sometimes that I need to drink alot to re-hydrate. But is more than 3 Litres a good idea?? What constitutes as too much water? I know MFP says 8 glasses a day.

Replies

  • ebert5150
    ebert5150 Posts: 135 Member
    Here's an article that talks about water poisoning and even the idea of the "mandatory 8 glasses" a day. It's from Scientific American.

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-drinking-too-much-water-can-kill
  • max4pups
    max4pups Posts: 29 Member
    That woman had to drink a large amount of water in a very short period of time. it is rare but can happen. It has something to do with flushing way to much out of your system in a short period of time.
    I drink on average around 15 cups a day ( I have a cup that holds 3 cups (24 ounces) and I drink 5 of those from 6am to around 8 pm)
    You body needs at least 8 cups a day of water, however minus a 10 oz cup of tea in the morning i don't drink anything else.
    I have also hear that if you take your weight divide it by 2 and then take them number and call it ounces that is how many ounces your bodies needs of water.
    I weigh 136 pounds divided by 2 it's 68. So I should have 68 ounces of water a day minimum. OR 8.5 cups a day. Like I said I average 120 ounces however as i said I'm not drinking anything else (no coffee, tea, diet soda etc)
    Hope that helps :)
  • Suzay
    Suzay Posts: 60
    I have the 75cl bottle of Evian aswell. I drink about 5-6 bottles of it a day, about 15-18 glasses that equals to I think and I'm okay.
  • morningstarluv
    morningstarluv Posts: 71
    bump
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
    There are a lot of variables to consider..

    As long as there isn't cramping, I would think your intake is fine.
  • jmtp
    jmtp Posts: 26 Member
    That woman in the contest was not allowed to go to the restroom as per the rules, so the problem was having that much water in her system. I assume you void regularly, so you cannot really go off of that tragic event in determining the proper amount of water.
  • sassylilmama
    sassylilmama Posts: 1,493 Member
    Difference is your water intake is over an entire day, the woman trying to win the wii drank gallons in an hour or so. I drink 1-2 gallons daily and I have never had a problem.
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