Experts Say We May Be Drinking Too Much Water
I run a lot and I drink a lot of water, especially when the weather is warm. My thought was to hydrate and drink as much as I could to replenish what I was sweating out on my workout every day.
If I don’t do that then I’m going to feel run down and tired from dehydration. I’ve always been told the best thing I can drink is water, but the question is, can I drink too much water? Can I overdo it? The answer may be “yes.”
Mom Dies From Drinking Too Much Water
I remember a story last year about a wife and mother of two who passed away from drinking too much water. In her case, she drank too much water too quickly. She drank two full liters over twenty minutes. It was determined that it was from “water toxicity” where the brain swelled and cut off its blood supply.
At the time I was drinking the equivalent immediately after each run, I’ve since cut back on my immediate intake. Now I make sure I don’t drink more than two sixteen-ounce bottles of water an hour.
Hydrate But Don’t Overdo It
Experts are always saying how we need to stay hydrated. However, according to a report by CBS News and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the answer is that we can drink too much water.
The CDC says that we should never drink any more than forty-eight ounces, which is the equivalent of six cups, approximately three pints, or about three regular-sized bottles over an hour. If you haven’t done the math yet, that’s one bottle every twenty minutes.
The Reason We Hydrate Too Much
According to the article, the medical director of New York Presbyterian in Westchester, Dr. Mahesh Polavarapu says that drinking too much water “will lower the concentration of salt in one’s blood, which can trigger a dangerous chain of events. If you have too much water, it’s going to push that water into cells to kind of balance out that sodium and other electrolyte concentrations.” This causes the many cells in you including brain cells to swell. This can cause nausea and cramps which are also symptoms of dehydration so it can be confusing.
We should drink about eight cups of water a day because we also get fluid from food and other drinks we enjoy.
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