can you drink too much water??

bridetobe04 Posted: Feb 05, 2003 11:45 AM

can you drink too much water??

i recently heard that its not good to drink 8 glasses of water a day because it does soething to your kidneys. anyone have any information on water drinking??

Happy_Bride Posted: Feb 05, 2003 11:57 AM

Re: can you drink too much water??

I've never heard anything bad about drinking water. In all the health mags I read it says at least 8 glasses a day.

OctBride03 Posted: Feb 05, 2003 11:59 AM

Re: can you drink too much water??

I did hear that. Too much water can wash out all your nutrients. My friends husband started getting REALLY bad cramps in his legs and the doctor told him he needs to NOT drink more than the 8 glasses a day. It washed out all of his potassium! Just an FYI!

sept20yay! Posted: Feb 05, 2003 12:09 PM

Re: can you drink too much water??

Yes--- A young lady I read about passed away from drinking too much water... She was high on X so she couldn't understand how much her body was taking in but it apparently flooded her system! I would stick to no more than one gallon of water a day!

kptoys Posted: Feb 05, 2003 12:41 PM

Re: can you drink too much water??

Like everyone said... you could washout all the electrolites in your system. It could put you in the hospital!!! Its like having really bad diareaha (sp?).

Happy_Bride Posted: Feb 05, 2003 01:42 PM

Re: can you drink too much water??

WOW! I have never heard that. THanks ladies! I drink about a gallon a day..sometimes a bit more. My body craves it when I don't!

Rob-luvs-me Posted: Feb 05, 2003 02:24 PM

Re: can you drink too much water??

8-10 glasses of water daily is ok (best to stick close to 8) depending on your body - more than that supposedly puts a strain on your kidneys (my uncle who is a urologist told me that)

MISHY Posted: Feb 05, 2003 03:08 PM

Re: can you drink too much water??

Drinking too much water can flush Potassium (sp?) out of your body which is not good. But eat yogurt it has lots of it!

ChristineC68 Posted: Feb 05, 2003 03:22 PM

Re: can you drink too much water??

I have heard of this before but I thought it would take much more water then 8 -10 glasses - more like 1.5-2 gallons.

Bananas and tonic water are also high in potassium.

kptoys Posted: Feb 05, 2003 03:23 PM

Re: can you drink too much water??

Yes, there is a condition known as 'water intoxication.' It is usually associated with long distance events like running and cycling. And it’s not an unusual problem. For example, water intoxication was reported in 18% of marathon runners and in 29% of the finishers in a Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon in studies published recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine and in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise respectively.

What happens is that as the athlete consumes large amounts of water over the course of the event, blood plasma (the liquid part of blood) increases. As this takes place, the salt content of the blood is diluted. At the same time, the athlete is losing salt by sweating. Consequently, the amount of salt available to the body tissues decreases over time to a point where the loss interferes with brain, heart, and muscle function.

The official name for this condition is hyponatremia. The symptoms generally mirror those of dehydration (apathy, confusion, nausea, and fatigue), although some individuals show no symptoms at all. If untreated, hyponatremia can lead to coma and even death.