You hear it all the time: drink at least 8 glasses of water a day! Stay hydrated, especially if you work or play outdoors in the heat! Whole new niche markets have opened up selling take-along water bottles that allow you fill them yourself and easily measure the amount of water you drink each day. These bottles attract buyers with their bold colors, designs, and catchy names like “Contigo,” Spanish for “with you,” and, of course, they capitalize on the health benefits of water-consumption. Then there is the pervasive market of bottled spring water conveniently packaged and sold like soft drinks in 8- or 12-ounce bottles bundled as 6- or 12-packs or as a whole case.
There is no argument. Drinking plenty of water is absolutely essential to health and well-being. It helps prevent constipation, aids digestion and weight loss, cleanses the body of waste products, relieves fatigue, dry mouth, and headaches, improves your mood and outlook, and helps maintain body temperature.
But can you get too much of a good thing?
Yes, you can. And it can kill you.
Drinking too much water too fast is called “overhydration,” “water intoxication,” and “Hyponatermia.”
The body must, through sweat and urine, be able to get rid of any excess water you drink. If you drink too much too fast, you flood the body with more water than the kidneys can handle. That water collects rapidly in the body and reduces natural sodium in the blood to dangerously low levels, which causes swelling wherever the water collects. Your body uses sodium to balance fluids and electrolytes in the body and to maintain stable blood pressure. Sodium is also important to the function of nerves and muscles.
Where does all this water go if the kidneys can’t process it? Usually to the brain, the organ most susceptible to overhydration. If excess fluid accumulates gradually, the brain has a chance to adapt. If excess fluid accumulates too quickly, however, the results are usually confusion, dizziness, seizures, and coma.
Overhydration can occur because of medical conditions, especially kidney disease, and because of certain medications.
But it can also occur because you simply drink too much water over too short a period of time. Most at risk are
- Infants in their first month of life because their kidneys haven’t developed sufficiently to get rid of fluids.
- The elderly because they may have lower quantities of sodium in their blood.
- Athletes, who pound huge quantities of water before, during, and after exercise and may not use all the water they consume.
The New York Times reports that at least three high-school football players died from overhydration between 2008 and 2015.
According to CBS News, one 17-year-old football player had consumed over 2 gallons of water and another 2 gallons of Gatorade during football practice in Douglasville, Georgia, on a hot August day in 2014. He and his coach believed drinking copious amounts of fluid would relieve his muscle cramps. But the fluids instead caused massive swelling in his brain and killed him.
BBC News reported that in 2008, a 40-year-old mother in England died of overhydration after drinking 4 litres of water in a two-hour period. She was on a weight-loss program that promoted replacing meals with fluids like soups, shakes, and water. After consuming the 4 litres of water, she complained to her husband of a headache, collapsed in her bathroom, and died the next day from brain swelling.
In 2007, a 28-year-old California woman died after drinking about 2 gallons of water in a radio-station contest to see who could drink the most water without going to the restroom (Source: CBS News).
Symptoms of Overhydration:
- Confusion
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Nausea and bloating
- Muscle spasms and cramps
- Restlessness
- Irritability
Severe cases lead to seizures, organ failure, coma, and death.
Many medical professionals are beginning to believe that dehydration is not a primary cause of muscle cramps. Fatigued, overused muscles and a history of muscle cramping are more often to blame. The Runner’s World Web site discusses several studies in which subjects who were significantly dehydrated before exercising were compared with hydrated subjects under similar conditions.
Their findings: “no difference in cramp susceptibility or intensity.”
Many medical professionals also promote using common sense when hydrating:
- Drink more water only when you’re thirsty. Thirst is a sign that you’re not drinking enough.
- Drink less water or drink more slowly if your urine is colorless
- Drink enough fluids so that you rarely feel thirsty.
- Drink enough so that your urine is straw colored or light yellow.
- Remember that drinking water is not the only way the average person hydrates. You get about 20% of your water from the food you eat.
- Drink a glass of water with each meal and between each meal.
- How much fluid people need varies according to their size, weight, activity level, and living environment.
- Most women need only about a liter and a half of fluids a day and men need around two liters day. Consuming more may not be healthy.
- All drinks, including coffee, tea, and sodas, count toward fluid intake.
- Drink throughout the day, not huge quantities all at once.
We are Advanced Bio Treatment, and we care about the communities we serve. Should you need our services, please call us at 800-295-1684. We give free quotes, provide emergency services, work with your insurance company, and respond 24/7/365.
