Can you drink too much water?

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-16-2004
Can you drink too much water?
14
Mon, 08-09-2004 - 1:02pm
I know we are supposed to drink 64 oz of water a day - which converts to 2 litres in Canadaland. On average I drink anywhere from 3 to 5 litres a day and can still be thirsty when I go to bed. I live in a dry climate but we've had a freakishly rainy summer so it isn't nearly as dry as it normally is.

Honestly, can you drink too much water? Do you end up retaining some of it? I use the loo often but not a freakish amount. If I was going too frequently I would be concerned about diabetes however in my last round of blood tests (back in November) my blood sugars were fine.

The only other thing I drink is a cup of coffee every morning - I don't drink sodas and I'm not a fan of fruit juice (I'd rather have the fruit), I might have a glass of milk a day but I usually get my calcium elsewhere. So, I always have water with me.

Does anyone know if there is such a thing as too much water?

Cheers

Lisa

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Mon, 08-09-2004 - 1:26pm
Hi, fellow Canadian!! I'm in Ontario... where are you?

I don't think that there is such a thing as too much water. I drink a lot of water, too, I can't really go anywhere without my water! As for retaining water, if you eat a lot of salt that might happen, but the more water you drink, the more will be flushed out if you are retaining water for any reason. So, just drink away!! I would say, though, about your comment about still being thirsty....do you have diabetes in your family? Because excessive thirst is a symptom of diabetes, so maybe there is an underlying issue there, if you are excessively thirsty. But I wouldn't worry about drinking too much water, there is no such thing. ~Sabrina
Avatar for jess9802
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Mon, 08-09-2004 - 1:26pm
It is actually possible to get too much water. I've forgotten the name of the condition, but it basically affects athletes who drink too much water during intense exercise and then don't have enough sodium in their bodies. One marathon runner died from it a year or two ago.

You've hit a sore spot with me. The only advantage to drinking lots of water is that it's calorie free, which is great if you've been drinking lots of high-calorie drinks. Water passes through your body pretty quickly. I've never believed that drinking liters and liters of water a day is necessary or even helpful in losing weight. Frankly, my bladder is small enough as it, and if I followed the water advice I see on diet boards, I would just have to camp out in the bathroom.

Water recommendations have been changed recently to reflect the fact that we get most of our water requirements from the food we eat. But you can also count coffee, tea, soda, milk, etc. towards your daily fluid requirements (caffeinated soda is not dehydrating!). Basically, the new guidelines are to drink when you're thirsty, and not force water down your gullet. (There have been articles in most of the women's magazines, including Shape and Fitness, on water recommendations. I don't have them here with me, but I could dig them up for you.)

Obviously when you're exercising you'll need to drink some water, but how much is very individualized. It helps to weigh yourself before and after a workout to see how much you've sweated out (probably not much!).

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Mon, 08-09-2004 - 1:41pm
Sorry, Jess, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. There are tons of advantages to drinking a lot of water! Drinking a lot of water keeps your kidneys, heart, and skin healthy, and it flushes toxins out of your body. If you're dieting, drinking lots of water will be beneficial because it does help take the pounds off quicker, as well as makes you feel full faster if you drink a large glass with your meals.

You shouldn't count other beverages towards your daily water intake because there could be substances in the drinks (such as sugar and sodium) that make you retain water. Also, I don't believe that coffee should be counted, because caffiene is a diuretic.

Also remember that by the time you're thirsty, you're already considered mildly dehydrated. ~Sabrina

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Mon, 08-09-2004 - 2:01pm
the name of the disease Jess is looking for is water intoxication I think. You almost always have to have an underlying medical condition to get it though. I agree with Sabrina. Water is very important, especially in weigh loss. Hugs, Brenda

Hugs, Brenda 

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2003
Mon, 08-09-2004 - 2:11pm
Hi everyone...Jess...you are right...there is something as to much water. When I was a dietitian, I saw it. Your body can process water so fast....and when you drink faster than it can process...you literally "drown" yourself (not a technical term by the way). And you can die from it. BUT ...I've only seen it in extreme cases where a person was an anorexic or a fanatic exerciser who was literally terrified of gaining a pound.

And I do agree both with Sabrina and Jess. Drinking plenty of water does have benefits as you keep yourself hyrated which keeps your metabolism up. BUT after drinking lots of water there is a point that it literally is just going right through you. There is a level that your body needs to function optimally. Exceeding it, and you'll be peeing out whatever elee goes in. It's kind of like taking really high levels of Vitamin C. There is a level you can take that is optimum, but if you exceed it, you're just peeing it out ad there's not much health benefit.

6-8 8 oz glasses is the current recommendation, but some people may need more or less depending on their conditions, if they exercise in heat, etc. And milk, juice, flavored water DOES count to this. Alcoholc and caffeinated beverages don't because they have a diuretic effect on the body. A good way to tell if you're properly hydrated is if our urine is a pale yellow color. If it's just slightly darker than water, you're probably drinking too much. If its darker, then you aren't getting enough fluids.

Avatar for jess9802
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Mon, 08-09-2004 - 2:22pm
You don't have to have an underlying medical condition to suffer from water intoxication. You just have to drink so much water that the sodium levels in your body drop dangerously low. That almost always happens to athletes who are excreting sodium in their sweat and drinking lots of regular water during intensive exercise.

You're repeating a lot of the claims regarding water (flushes toxins, keeps skin healthy, by the time you're thirsty you're already dehydrated etc.) that are often cited by dieters. But where's the science to back it up?

There isn't any. That's why this bothers me so much! Barbara Rolls, a Penn State nutrition researcher has no idea where the idea of "8 8-oz. glasses of water a day" got its start. She pointed out in an LA Times article that most people get about FOUR cups of water from food alone. The Center for Human Nutrition in Omaha found no "significant differences" in the dehydration status of adults who regularly drank caffeinated beverages. The only dehydrating beverages are those that contain alcohol. Sorry, but I'll take my water advice from those who've actually done research on hydration and water consumption.

There's usually no harm in drinking lots of water. But you know, I drink maybe 20-30 oz. of water a day, and most of that comes during exercise. Otherwise, most of my fluid intake is from diet colas (which don't have that much caffeine to begin with). I'm not dehydrated, and I've lost weight very easily and continue to do so. I used to drink lots and lots of water, and other than having to run to the bathroom every 15 freakin' minutes, I noticed absolutely no difference in my complexion, energy levels, appetite, or weight loss. So...what was the point?

If you like the taste of ice cold water (and I do), then bottoms up! But someone who's trying to lose weight shouldn't force water down her throat just because people insist on following outdated and unsupported advice on water consumption.




Edited 8/9/2004 9:53 pm ET ET by jess9802

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-20-2004
Mon, 08-09-2004 - 5:14pm
(((Jess)))

Thanks for clearing that up. I had the same question. I was confused also when I saw that one of the fitness boards suggested dividing your weight in half and drinking that amount of ounces in water each day?! Maybe I misunderstood what they were saying, because I think I would drown if I had to drink half of my weight in water LOL. I do try to drink 8 cups of water each day, but I usually end of drinking about 6 cups of water. But wait, I always drink about 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of juice each day, so I guess I am drinking plenty of fluids after all.


***Hugs***

Keeyah


Edited 8/9/2004 5:23 pm ET ET by akeeyah

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-16-2004
Mon, 08-09-2004 - 11:47pm
Hey Sabrina! I'm in Calgary right now though I've lived all over Canada and the world (originally from Newfoundland) - mostly maritime climates so I find this harsh dry weather brutal.

But WOW...who knew a question about water could cause such a debate! Thank you all for the feedback! On my next visit to my doctor I'll try to remember to ask. What prompted this is the other day I actually drank over six litres and was still craving water later. At one point I thought it was the fact that I was exercising and sweating more therefore losing sodium however I tried drinking one of those 'fitness drinks' and it made me ill.

Then I noticed that with the exception of the morning pee my urine is normally clear - a sign that water is going through me too quickly.

Ahh well we shall see what the doc says.

Cheers

Lisa

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-20-2003
Tue, 08-10-2004 - 1:18pm
Coming out of lurkerdom to say.... I thought these might help answer your question.


http://pages.ivillage.com/sgsamson/toomuchwater.html

http://www.ivillage.com/food/experts/hltheat/qas/0,,242248_17843,00.html

Jessica

~crawling back under rock~

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Tue, 08-10-2004 - 2:19pm
I'm not trying to start anything at all, by the way. I'm just saying that it is healthy to drink water, and I don't think it's right to discourage people to drink water. Sure, there is a minimum to how much you should drink, and most people stay at that minimum. But how much more you drink is a personal choice, and a person should decide how much water to drink by finding out what works best for them.

You would have to drink a hell of a lot of water for it to be too much, and athletes are predisposed to hyponatremia because they are losing a lot of sodium through sweat. Other than those people, the average person would not be in danger of hyponatremia unless they drank a LOT of water. We talked about this in my biology class when I was in the nursing program, and there is actually a psychological condition associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder that causes a person to drink too much water. I think it's safe to say that most people on this board are not die-hard athletes, nor do they suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, so cautioning them against drinking a healthy amount of water is unnecessary.

I don't understand why you say that there is no science to back up the fact that water is healthy for the body. Maybe you just haven't found any because you aren't looking for it. The body is 60% water, and it makes sense that we need to keep ourselves well hydrated for our body systems to function optimally. If I had more time, I'd do some research myself and dig up my biology notes to give you some more facts, but I've got to get going to work.

Again, I'm not trying to fight with anyone, I'm simply giving the facts of why it's healthy to drink a lot of water, especially when you're trying to lose weight.

~Sabrina

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