Is it possible to drink too much water over the course of a day?
I am doing a cleanse and want to make sure I don't overdue my water intake if that is possible.
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Answers ( 2 )
Drinking too much water is called hyponatremia- which means low sodium (Na) in the blood, which means individual cells may not be getting the proper amounts and ratios of electrolytes, which can mean death. You need water, but you can drink too much.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256
Here's the thing about the amount of water an adult human usually needs to drink per day: We've not yet pinned that down.
Shocking, I know. Way back in the 60s, a researcher did masses of calculations and figured an individual human, doing usual human stuff, eating usual (for the time) human foods, would need the equivalent of six eight ounce glasses of water a day. The equivalent of. Not: All the food you eat PLUS six-eight ounce glasses of water, but the equivalent of.
That bit of research, spitballed and averaged to the point of smooth as silk, is a guideline. Not writ in stone, Not do it or die. Just a guideline.
The usual media-mavens of healthy lifestyles will provide you with the following advice: Drink the water. If you are thirsty, it is too late- you are already dehydrated; drink the water. If your urine is not colorless, you are already in fluid imbalance, drink the water. If you are sweating, you will go into fluid imblanace, drink the water-- do you see the pattern here?
Drink some water- a couple swallows- all day long, and eat the foods in appropriate portions, and you'll be fine. No need to count ounces or litres, nor check the color of urine- just a couple swallows each hour, more if you are physically exerting yourself or sweating or feel thirsty, and eat the foods in appropriate portions and you'll be fine.
It is indeed possible to drink too much water, as well described by J Starr in the excellent answer already posted. But in the big picture, hyponatremia is, while very dangerous, much less of a concern than the cleanse itself. Hyponatremia is quite rare, except in really excessive cases of water consumption. But cleanses themselves are usually based on pseudoscience, and have no scientifically-proven benefits.
There is some promising early research that there may be a few benefits to intermittent fasting, but cleanse programs are not built on this principle at all. Instead, cleanses are called that because they are based on the false premise of "detoxing". And in most cases, rather than simply limiting or eliminating your food intake, they require purchasing specific products from the proponents, or at least a book that outlines the procedures. There are many different cleanses, each based on the idea of ridding the body of different toxins that their product helps with. But none are based on real, high-quality research that shows any effectiveness at removing these toxins. Most are based on either removing toxins that aren't actually shown to be there, or on processes that wouldn't actually remove them even if they were. The body is very good at regulating and cleaning itself on a systemic level. And there is little you can do that will improve this. In fact, by depriving yourself accidentally of certain nutrients during the cleanse, you may do more harm than good.
So while it's theoretcially possible to drink too much water over the course of a day during your cleanse, it's highly unlikely. What is likely, however, is that the cleanse itself is not a good idea, or at best a waste of time and money.