Can a person drink too much water?

mikevizer
mikevizer Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
I am drinking about 16 cups of water a day and am have minimal weight loss each week. Is there such a thing as too much water?

Replies

  • YuffieKisaragi
    YuffieKisaragi Posts: 13 Member
    I don't know about health wise, but you are probably just retaining all that water weight. I remember one Saturday (my normal weigh in day) I forgot I had already consumed about 6 cups of water and was wondering why I gained a pound back, then it hit me that it was all water weight.
  • JeffseekingV
    JeffseekingV Posts: 3,165 Member
    At some point drinking water isn't going to continue to net you weight loss. When you have achieved the proper hydration levels, you aren't retaining any extra water weight. After that, you'll just maintain
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I am drinking about 16 cups of water a day and am have minimal weight loss each week. Is there such a thing as too much water?

    yes, but you're probably a way off it. Too much and you get sodium or other depletion, using isotonic drinks or rehydration salts avoids that. People have died from over-hydration. It doesn't do anything for fat loss really.
  • jcamby
    jcamby Posts: 200 Member
    There is such a thing as too much water but 16 cups a day won't do it. I drink anywhere between 12-16 and I'm still losing. I also add lemon to my water!
  • Adrasteis
    Adrasteis Posts: 110 Member
    I drink alot of water too (yesterday was 14 cups) but then again I work out hard, sweat alot and live in Texas. I need water! I don't drink juice, soda, etc. so I don't really worry about how much I drink.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    Yes. You can drink too much. I don't know how much that would be though. But, anything in excess is bad.


    It is my opinion that most people over drink water. Your body can't absorb all that water, so you simply pee it out. You're just over working your bladder and whatever else. I just drink when I feel thristy. I probably drink 4 or 5 glasses of water a day. That's all I need, I think.
  • Grissay
    Grissay Posts: 112 Member
    I read somewhere that it's not how much you drink but how fast you drink it.
    There's this nifty calculator here that I use http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm

    A person who is 174 pounds
    and is exercising for 60 minutes ,
    is not pregnant,
    is not breastfeeding,
    does not live at a high altitude,
    does not live in a dry climate,
    drinks 0 alcoholic drink(s),
    when the weather is not very hot or very cold,
    and is not sick with fever or diarrhea should have:
    93 ounces of water today, or 2.8 liters.

    If you eat a healthy diet, about 20 percent of your water may come from the foods you eat. If you eat a healthy diet you can drink 74.4 ounces of water today, or 2.2 liters.

    Check it out :)
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    It's not your water intake either way. The three ways you retain water are:

    1. Dehydration - not drinking enough water will force your body to adapt by "hanging on" to more water that it does get.
    2. Sodium - your body retains water when you eat lots of sodium so it can process it out of the body.
    3. Muscle repair - after heavy-lifting workouts, your body will tend to retain water used in the process of repairing muscle.

    You are drinking plenty of water to eliminate #1, and if your weight loss has stalled you probably aren't continuing to retain MORE water to offset any weight losses week after week.

    If your urine is a light yellow, you're drinking plenty of water. Very few people need 16 8-ounce glasses of water to meet that goal. So you're probably drinking unnecessarily large amounts of water. But you certainly aren't drinking "too much" in terms of it negatively affecting your health or weight loss.
  • neikoboo927
    neikoboo927 Posts: 19 Member
    Huh I did not know that. Water is all I drink and I constantly have one of those large tumblers filled up with ice water with lemon. I'm still loosing too. Huh...
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    Yes, definitely, you can overdo it.

    My husband was drinking eight 44oz glasses of water a day, so a total of 352 ounces. His joints all swelled up, he felt sick and miserable and (unbelievably) went to the doctor. They figured out that he was essentially drowning himself.


    If your urine is a pale yellow color, you're doing just fine.
  • Jay_Jay_
    Jay_Jay_ Posts: 194 Member
    I don't know about health wise, but you are probably just retaining all that water weight.

    I think someone else above mentioned it, but this needs to be said again. You do -not- retain water weight from drinking more water. Drinking -more- water is a way to retain less water because your body removes more of that water rather than holding onto it.
  • Trail_Addict
    Trail_Addict Posts: 1,340 Member
    If you drink too much water in a short period of time.... say 1 gallon, and you don't eat anything, you risk flushing your muscles of sodium and other electrolytes... a condition known as Hyponatremia.

    Here's the catch.... it would be absurd to drink that much water in one sitting, and not also be eating food.
  • Thomakk
    Thomakk Posts: 25 Member
    Water will not prevent you from losing weight unless it is too little water. If you are consistently drinking a gallon a day, the lack of weight loss is from something else, not water.

    I started drinking 14-16 cups a day about a month ago because I was not losing any weight regardless of my exercise and calorie management. I am losing about 1 to 1.5 lbs a week now.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    Yes. You can drink too much. I don't know how much that would be though. But, anything in excess is bad.


    It is my opinion that most people over drink water. Your body can't absorb all that water, so you simply pee it out. You're just over working your bladder and whatever else. I just drink when I feel thristy. I probably drink 4 or 5 glasses of water a day. That's all I need, I think.

    "Too much" is to the point of developing "water intoxication" - a very nasty and sometimes fatal process whereby the water you drink flushes your electrolyte levels down to the point where your cells can no longer function. This is usually too much plain water following some heavy-exercise event where you've sweated out massive amounts of electrolytes (think "half marathon on a hot day followed by a gallon of water in a half hour"). It's easily preventable by supplementing the water with a few electrolytes (a la Gatorade or other sports drinks), but for the vast majority of us this isn't necessary.

    8 8oz glasses of water is a bit overkill for most people who eat a healthy diet, true. The recommendation is pretty much there for the American diet which includes a lot of salty foods (extra sodium intake means you want extra water), and because moderate over-intake of water has no health risks.

    Honestly the easiest way to tell is to check your urine unless you have some specific medical condition.

    - Clear or unnoticeably pale yellow: You're wasting drinking water. But you aren't hurting yourself.
    - Pale yellow, transparent: You're probably about right.
    - Bright golden yellow or darker, or partly opaque: You probably want to be drinking more water.
    - Red: Seek medical attention, or stop eating so many delicious beets. :laugh:
  • iam_thatdude
    iam_thatdude Posts: 1,266 Member
    I drink 2 gallons (yes 2) a day...but i.also burn/sweat out 400+ cals and eat good food. I think balanced with everything elsr alot of water is great.

    Nice side effect....much more pwerful orgasms...which I know u all needed toknow
  • SweetDee80
    SweetDee80 Posts: 62
    I heard somewhere that for however much body fat percentage you have, that is how many ounces you should be drinking. So if someone has 30% body fat, they need to be drinking at least 30 ounces of water a day.

    There are honestly so many different opinions about water intake I never know which one to believe!
  • mikevizer
    mikevizer Posts: 4
    Thank you everyone for all the responses. I guess I will keep doing what I am doing. I am still losing about 4 pounds a week.
  • Thomakk
    Thomakk Posts: 25 Member
    Thank you everyone for all the responses. I guess I will keep doing what I am doing. I am still losing about 4 pounds a week.

    4 LBS A WEEK!!! What the heck are you complaining about? I'd say the amount of water you drink must be pretty good.

    Just how much do you think you should be losing per week?
  • jaxbeck
    jaxbeck Posts: 537 Member
    Yes. You can drink too much. I don't know how much that would be though. But, anything in excess is bad.


    It is my opinion that most people over drink water. Your body can't absorb all that water, so you simply pee it out. You're just over working your bladder and whatever else. I just drink when I feel thristy. I probably drink 4 or 5 glasses of water a day. That's all I need, I think.

    "Too much" is to the point of developing "water intoxication" - a very nasty and sometimes fatal process whereby the water you drink flushes your electrolyte levels down to the point where your cells can no longer function. This is usually too much plain water following some heavy-exercise event where you've sweated out massive amounts of electrolytes (think "half marathon on a hot day followed by a gallon of water in a half hour"). It's easily preventable by supplementing the water with a few electrolytes (a la Gatorade or other sports drinks), but for the vast majority of us this isn't necessary.

    8 8oz glasses of water is a bit overkill for most people who eat a healthy diet, true. The recommendation is pretty much there for the American diet which includes a lot of salty foods (extra sodium intake means you want extra water), and because moderate over-intake of water has no health risks.

    Honestly the easiest way to tell is to check your urine unless you have some specific medical condition.

    - Clear or unnoticeably pale yellow: You're wasting drinking water. But you aren't hurting yourself.
    - Pale yellow, transparent: You're probably about right.
    - Bright golden yellow or darker, or partly opaque: You probably want to be drinking more water.
    - Red: Seek medical attention, or stop eating so many delicious beets. :laugh:

    This actually happened to me. Puked my brains out for an hour one evening after downing gallons of water
  • Davy_RockHit
    Davy_RockHit Posts: 45
    Thank you everyone for all the responses. I guess I will keep doing what I am doing. I am still losing about 4 pounds a week.

    That is a fantastic amount to be losing!!!
  • grimm1974
    grimm1974 Posts: 337 Member
    Water Intoxication is usually very difficult to get. You see it sometimes in marathon runners. Outside of that, it happens in infants when mothers feed them formula that is too watered down. In most normal conditions, you are not going to have to worry about it.

    Just think of it this way, if you are putting a lot of water in make sure a lot is coming right back out. If you keep drinking and you are not urinating, you could be heading for a problem.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    This actually happened to me. Puked my brains out for an hour one evening after downing gallons of water

    Then you might have gotten very lucky. You didn't get water intoxication because your body (wisely or coincidentally) rejected the water. You were probably suffering from dehydration and you overwhelmed your stomach - I find that if I allow myself to get dehydrated I'll often feel sick to my stomach and ingesting anything makes it a lot worse. I eat a tiny snack and sip lukewarm water until I can drink water in larger quantities (and by that I mean - by the glass, not by the gallon!).

    I cycle long distances, and if I'm going to do it in any sort of heat I'll take snackies (granola bars, Clif bars, bananas, that sort of thing) along and eat a little bit once an hour or so. I also hydrate pretty much continuously (sip from a water bottle with plain water). Some of my friends use Gatorade, Gel, or other sports drinks or electrolyte balancers in their water which accomplishes the same goal - replace electrolytes lost while sweating.

    We're probably all overdoing it with the electrolytes, but better safe than sorry.

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