Overhydration – Too much water?

Overhydration – Too much water?

Just recently I started to track my diet through the Samsung Health App. I’ve used the app before to check my heart rate and stress levels, but I never knew how powerful this app was until I started using the other features. I started to log my food, coffee, and water intake to view a daily summary of my calories and nutrients. Before I even started to analyze my diet, something caught my attention that I never realized before.

I knew that I drink a lot more water than the average person, however only since I started logging my intake, I realized that I drink close to 200 ounces of water daily. Everybody knows that water is essential to our bodies, and most people are concerned about not drinking enough water. So I started doing research on too much water, and yes it can actually be bad for you. Logically it makes a lot of sense too. Overhydration can lead to water intoxification. This occurs when the amount of salt and other electrolytes in your body become too diluted. Hyponatremia is a condition in which sodium (salt) levels become dangerously low. This is the main concern of overhydration (healtline.com). So sodium is good for you? Are fats and sugars good for you too? It turns out that they are! Your body needs all of these to function properly. Problems occur when there are too much or too little of anything in your body. Everything in moderation!

This does not mean you that you can drink a little more water than normal and then all of a sudden have problems. To be a little more clear, Overhydration will occur when your water intake exceeds your body’s ability to excrete water. A lot of athletes experience this when they drink excessive amounts of water to avoid dehydration. A young, healthy adult, with normal kidney functions would have to drink more than 6 gallons of water a day on a a regular basis for overhydration. Therefore, overhydration is much more common among people whose kidneys do not excrete urine normally – for example, among people with a disorder of the heart, kidneys, or liver, or among premature infants, whose kidneys are immature. (merckmanuals.com)

Also, you don’t have to have a Samsung device to use the Samsung Health App……you can download it in iTunes for iPhones too.

Generally, if you are thirsty you should drink water. If you are constantly thirsty, even when you are not active, that can be a sign of other conditions that may need medical attention. Whenever in doubt, you should seek medical attention right away.

 

MARCH 6, 2019 BY DAVIDIN