| Drinking too much water? |
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CodeMonkey
New Member
| Joined: | 6 Aug 2007 |
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Posted: 5 Nov 2007 10:53 am |
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| I have a co-worker who's wife is one of these naturalists or something like that. He told me she went to some naturalist doctor who told her that drinking more than one gallon of water washes away nutrients that your body needs. I'm pretty skeptic when I hear something like this, so I really don't buy it. I know if you drink too much water it can kill you. I admit there are days I will drink about 2 to 2.5 gallons a day, although I don't do it that often. Is this something I should try to avoid doing?
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 5 Nov 2007 01:11 pm |
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The nutrients that get diluted if you drink too much water are minerals: electrolites, including sodium. Several people have been drinking too much whilst running marathons without replacing sodium (and magnesium?) and have died as a result.
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NevD
New Member
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Posted: 5 Nov 2007 01:23 pm |
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... one gallon of water washes away nutrients that your body needs...
Hmm... It surely can't apply carte-blanche? What about people of vastly different body sizes/masses?
Sounds like another of those apocryphal warnings for which no-one knows the origin...
If you drink too much water, you'd surely be uncomfortable. On hot days, I drink more, on cold days, less. If I'm exercising hard, I drink more.
Like Nir mentioned, it's important to replace what you lose in the way of electolytes. I always found that dilute fruit juice with a pinch of salt did the trick. (No unfortunate side effects - and I'm talking about 16 mile runs, so lots of sweating).
As mentioned earlier, just about any kind of excess can be dangerous. Wow, 2.5 gallons is a lot though!
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Peter
Founder of this forum
| Joined: | 24 May 2005 |
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Posted: 5 Nov 2007 08:48 pm |
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Nir, that's a valid concern IF you're running a marathon. Mudman's not quite there yet.
For the rest of us, I just wanted to point out that when you drink excess water your body will pass it to keep your electrolyte balance within range, unless you eat a lot of salt, in which case it will retain the water to dilute the salt.
Also see:
How Salt Affects Your Weight
Why Drinking Water Is Important for Weight Loss
Peter
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CodeMonkey
New Member
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Posted: 7 Nov 2007 10:57 am |
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Peter wrote: Nir, that's a valid concern IF you're running a marathon. Mudman's not quite there yet.
WHAT?!?! 
Okay, you're right. I'm not. Hopefully I'll be there though.
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