Last Updated on February 7, 2020
© Medical News Today
We are always hearing that in order to have a healthy lifestyle we need to carry around a bottle of water with us everywhere we go. And it’s true. Drinking the recommended amount of water every day can have a huge impact on our well-being and long-term health.
The proven benefits of drinking water include improved physical performance, higher energy levels, and brain function, relieve constipation, prevent headaches (and hangover!), promote weight loss, boost skin health, among many others.
You can also look at this the other way around: water deficiency in the body provokes dehydration, a condition that can lead to serious complications such as low blood volume, seizures, kidney problems, and heatstroke.
So, the best thing is to listen to the medical community and drink the recommended 2 to 3 liters per day – this number may vary according to your gender and daily routine.
But can drink too much water actually have a negative impact on your body? The short answer is yes, it can. As weird as it may sound, you can even overdose on water. The phenomenon is known as water intoxication or overhydration.
What is overhydration?
As we have mentioned earlier, drinking an excessive amount of water in a short period can lead to overhydration. This condition occurs when the water intake disturbs the normal balance of electrolytes in the body.
This affects your blood sodium levels and causes hyponatremia – that can potentially be fatal. However, it is worth mentioning that dying from excessive water intake is extremely rare and has only occurred in weirdly unusual situations.
Healthy people usually have between 135 and 145 mEq/L of sodium in the bloodstream. Drinking a ridiculous amount of water in a short period can lower this value to dangerous levels and overwhelm the kidneys – that will then become unable to process the extra fluids in a timely manner. With nowhere to go, the extra fluids will leave the bloodstream and enter the cells. This will affect brain function and lead to a serious of complications.
