Is Drinking Too Much Water Bad for You?

Sugar, alcohol and salt, these are the obvious bad guys, when it comes to over consumption. But water?! Isn't water, the elixir of life? Doesn't it make up 70% of your body weight and is necessary for your body? Is drinking too much water bad for you? The answer to all these questions is yes. While water is a natural bearer of nutrients and electrolytes, it also follows the "too much of anything is bad for you" rule. And drinking too much water, can cause serious damage to your health.

Is Drinking Too Much Water Bad for You?
Yes, it is. Drinking a large quantity of water in a short span of time can make you feel sick and sometimes can be fatal too. It is also known as water intoxication, hyper-hydration, water poisoning or overhydration. Any element, when consumed in largesse, is bad for you, and water is no exception. To understand what happens with overhydration, first look at water's role in the human body. Water intake reduces your body's temperature and transports oxygen and other nutrients into your cells. But it is eventually flushed out by the kidneys, through urine and sweat. But your kidneys have a limit, and removing water is much slower than intaking it. So they struggle to remove the excess water, which seeps into your blood and dilutes it. The salt in your blood starts to decrease. Now your cells and blood have a balanced amount of salt. When the level of salt in the blood drops, the cells, to help balance the salt ratio, will absorb the excess water. And they start to swell. Think of a sponge, when you put some water on it, it starts to swell and expand in size. This unnatural swelling of cells can have unwanted effects on all parts of your body. The heartbeat rate can be affected, and fluid may seep into the lungs. The nervous system is strained and behaves erratically. But one most important body part, i.e. your brain, is hit hard by the swelling of cells. Your brain is cushioned by your skull. If the cells in your brain start to swell, the brain expands in size and bangs against your skull.

Is it Unhealthy to Drink Water Excessively?
What starts out as a headache, could turn into a variety of symptoms from the intracranial pressure, depending on the amount of swelling. Some possible symptoms, arranged from mild to severe, are

• Changes in behavior
• Throbbing headaches
• Drowsiness
• Feelings of confusion and irritability
• Twitching features
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Muscle weakness
• Difficulty breathing when exerting
• Dulled senses

If the cells have expanded to a dangerous level, then the blood flow is hindered and pressure is applied on the brain stem. So the central nervous system is compromised. At this point, a person could go into a seizure or coma, and perhaps die or have severe brain damage.

How Can You Drink Too Much Water?
Hyper hydration is a rare condition, but some groups are at higher risk than others:

• Athletes, as they sweat heavily and can drink too much water, while running.
• Infants who are less than a year old, have little body mass and can end up consuming too much water, in relation to their body weight.
• People suffering from severe diarrhea and vomiting, lose a lot of electrolytes and end up drinking a lot of water. Water does make up for the lost electrolytes but should be taken with other fluids and food.
• Ecstasy takers feel an increase in thirst and over intake water. The pill is an anti-diuretic itself, so more water is taken in, but cannot be flushed out.
• Psychogenic polydipsia is a psychiatric condition, where the patient is compelled to drink large amounts of water.
• When a person is fed intravenously and is not conscious, care must be taken in balancing the fluid intake.
• Participants in water drinking competitions, where a lot of water can be ingested over a very short period of time.

Prevention and Treatment
The major difficulty with water intoxication is a correct diagnosis. The symptoms can be easily confused with alcohol or drugs intoxication. Once diagnosed, diuretics are prescribed to reduce the water levels. and certain drugs are given to reduce the swelling. Prevention of overhydration doesn't mean stop drinking water. Rather, the amount of water and when you drink it, is important. Your kidneys can flush out 1 liter of water per hour (approx), so regulate your water intake. Depending on your body mass, your intake should be 1 - 2 liters per day. When exerting oneself a lot, or extreme heat, or if you are taking certain medicines, your water consumption should increase. Remember that food also provides water. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains replenish your body's water levels. But if you do not include such foods in your diet, or use a lot of salt or spices, then you should have several glasses of water per day.

The bottom line with water is that it is good for health. Fat, thin, old or young, human beings need water and there is no substitute for it. Is drinking too much water bad for you? Yes, but so is drinking too little. Moderation is the key. If you feel unusually thirsty, don't gulp down large quantities, but space out your drinking intervals. Avoid drinking water immediately after exercising. Take a breather and sip away slowly.