Water Intoxication:H2Overdose?

If you've been sitting at your desk aimlessly drinking water under the impression that the more water you drink the better, you might want to slow down and limit your intake to a measurable amount. Too much of anything is bad for you, including water. Considering our bodies are made of up of a significant amount of water and that there are many health benefits associated with drinking water, overhydration can cause something athletes occasionally suffer from referred to as 'Water Intoxication'.

What is Water Intoxication?

Water Intoxication is also known as 'Water Poisoning' because when the body consumes too much water it acts as a poison and can be potentially fatal. Too much water can harm our electrolytes by extremely diluting our body's sodium content, something referred to as Hyponatremia, Latin for "Insufficient salt in the blood". Fortunately, this is a very rare occurrence as under normal circumstances most people don't drink anywhere near the amount of water that can cause this condition. There have been rare occurrences of infants and athletes suffering from water poisoning as well as a tragic death caused by a radio-sponsored water-drinking competition.

How Much Water Do I Need?

There is no exact amount of water to aim for since there are so many factors that differ person to person. Studies tend to lean towards eight 8oz glasses of water a day mainly because it's an amount that is somewhat approximate and easy to remember. Interested in more specific results? Try this water calculator to see how many glasses you should be aiming for.

Image courtesy of Creative Commons.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites