In an effort to limit my enemy (Diet Coke). I have made it a goal to drink at least 1 Gallon of water, or more, every day to be better hydrated and assist in shedding a couple of pounds. Two friends have told me you can over hydrate and it will have a negative effect… of course they couldn’t tell me what that effect would be. Everything I studied in college (Health Minor) shows no negative effects. Any thoughts (besides going to the bathroom 20x a day)?
Hyponatremia. See http://www.honoluluclub.com/pulse.php?ID=31
or do a web search.
I doubt he’ll get hyponatremic sitting around drinking water in the absence of kidney disease.
However when working out a sports drink is better as you lose electrolytes faster than you lose water when sweating.
MY wife does this too, and it drives me nuts. Don’t set a static goal of how much water to drink, simply drink what you need. You are fully hydrated when your urination is clear, copious and every 2-3 hours.
Certainly no denying that drinking water is good…but drinking too much is just a waste of time. Simply understand your hydration needs…
You’re not a Camel.
If you’re kicking the Diet Coke habit, you’ll probably find the slippery slope back. Rather than just water…try some sugar free Kool-Aid as well. Also, some of the fitness water tastes good, but it darn expensive.
Water intoxication 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.
Too much water can lead to throwing off your electrolyte balance and change blood plasma consistency, which can lead to cramping (among other bad things). I used to drink just water and got leg cramps on the run. Now I spike the water with Orange juice to give me some potassium and help keep the electrolytes in check. Tons of pure water for an athlete is not a good idea, at least for me it wasn’t.
~ AB ~
" I doubt he’ll get hyponatremic sitting around drinking water in the absence of kidney disease.
However when working out a sports drink is better as you lose electrolytes faster than you lose water when sweating."
Agreed! But drinking that much water is not a beneficial thing. That business of drinking 8 glasses of water a day was non-sense. It was a by-product of that fact that active healthy people sweat more, so they need to drink more water.
That business of drinking 8 glasses of water a day was non-sense. It was a by-product of that fact that active healthy people sweat more, so they need to drink more water.
I always thought it was to keep you full so you wouldn’t eat as much.
Anyway I agree that it’s nonsense.
Be carefull about drinking too much water or this can happen
http://www.funnypictures100.com/drink2.html
sorry 8-}
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