Water Consumption

[Celtic Jedi]

I am wondering if it is possible to drink too much water????
I am currently consuming about 3 1 Liter bottles per day plus about another liter between lifting and cardio. I am 178 lbs. Is this too much, not enough or just right?????

[Russ89]

Drinking water at every opportunity can cause serious problems, such as hyponatraemia or water intoxication. As the water content of the blood increases, the salt content is diluted. Consequently the amount of salt available to body tissues decreases, which can lead to problems with brain, heart and muscle function.
Taken from: http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/di ... _water.htm

[Mehdi]

4-6l per day is ok.

[Russ89]

http://www.bottledwater.org/public/hydratio_main.htm

[Charlie]

I remember hearing an audio file on the Internet a while back of some American radio show where they had a competition called something along the lines of "hold in your wee for a Nintendo Wii." Basically, these two girls had to continuously drink water, but they weren't allowed to go to the toilet, and the person who went the longest won a Nintendo Wii. The winner was talking about how she had a massive headache and felt really sick while she was being interviewed, and she actually ended up dying at her house that day. It's a pretty tragic story, but it shows you the dangers of drinking too much water. I think she suffered electrolyte depletion from what I read. I'm sure you can find the audio file by googling it, but honestly, it isn't the nicest thing to hear.

I drink up to 4 litres a day. For me, drinking more is just plain inconvenient. I don't wanna have to spend a large portion of my day pissing

[Celtic Jedi]

Okay so I will stick to my 3-4 litres per day.
Thanks for the help guys. I am so glad I found this forum

[MysCat]

I remember that contest. I guess the contestants were told to drink as much water as they could within a short period of time. The woman who died drank 2 gallons of water within a short period of time without going to the bathroom and it caused an electrolyte balance which affected her brain function. I think if you drink a lot of water throughout the day, it's safe as long as you offset that with food that contains potassium and sodium. I drink 3-4 quarts of water a day and haven't had any problems.

[oi_joe]

I drank a 2 litre carton of strawberry milk once, must say it'll never happen again, as soon as i finished it, i got the sweats, and had to go the toilet. At the time i was at college, i got to the closest toilet, and it was out of order, had to go all the way to the other side of the building. I started to jog, but thought i was going to heave, so walked leaning against wall, was in pain at this time. i got the toilet, thought i was going be sick so i had my head over the toilet in anticipation, but i realized it wanted to come the other end!!! so as you do i half filled the toilet with pink shit. no word of a lie, after that i was sick, pink again, when i stood up, i noticed allot got caught behind my nose, i stiffed up and was sick again.

bad times. especially with the walk of shame back to class

[Rob]

hahaha that's a badass story   can't imagine what went through your mind when the first toilet was out of order.

[oi_joe]

was going to just pop a squat, and go on the landing.

[Quash]

Is it possible to drink too much water? Yes. Consuming 2 gallons or more in a short period of time will dilute the salt levels in the body enough to inhibit bodily functions. We are highly complex batteries, in a matter of speaking, and we need a certain concentracion of potassium and sodium in solution in our cells to carry on the functions of life.  If this ratio of salt to water gets too low, then the battery (our cells) cease to function.
That being said, you really have to go out of your way to drink too much water to dilute yourself to death. You'd have to force water into yourself after feeling full to achieve this affect, without consuming anything else containing sodium or potassium.
On the other hand, eating too much salt can kill you much more easily. If you were to eat 2+ tablespoons of pure salt at one time, you'd be putting enough salt into your body to over saturate your system, in effect, the opposite of what's described above. Death would still occur, though.
I'm a news junkie and a lawyer in training. And, I was in a fraternity in college. The connection? I've read a lot, sought out stories of note, and have read that fraternities have, in the past, killed pledges by using both way too much water (drink this maggot!) and too much salt (eat this maggot!). It does not happen often at all, but when it does, it makes news.
@ Oi_Joe - lactose can only be processed by the body at a certain low rate, and drinking too much milk can produce nausea as you overwhelm the body's ability to process said carb. I don't know of anyone dying from drinking too much milk, but I know the practical maximum is about 1/2 gallon at a sitting, as anything more than that will result in the body's ability and extreme desire to rid itself of unwanted carbs. Read: vomitus.

[Lathiel]

Yeah. Too much water all at once isn't good. You can safely drink 3 gallons a day if it's evenly distributed. I haven't done it myself, I get about 2 gallons and a half a day. One gallon from 6am-12pm, 1 from 12pm-6pm and a half from 6pm-11pm. But I think a gallon a day is a good general rule, but it never hurts to have more when consumed the right way.

[oi_joe]

@Quash i agree 100%, too much too soon is not the answer

[honcho84]

Lathiel thats a ton of water...Are you a fish??

[Rob]

Lathiel, have you considered earning some part-time cash helping Smokey put out forest fires?
For those that don't know who Smokey the Bear is: http://www.smokeybear.com/