Do you drink TOO MUCH WATER???

[AnabolicAlien]

I've been reading and hearing that drinking a gallon of water or more per day is actually more harmful than good... has anyone else heard this? I really don't want to drink that much water, especially if it's not helping me. I think this maybe one of the biggest myths in bodybuilding (that tons of water is good). I'll keep researching. I just wanted to bring it up.


E.T.

[anaBROLIC]

good question id like to know the answer to this also.. i hear all the time rumors that too much is bad.. is it better if you drink alot on a bulk or cut cycle? but yet i also read alot of articles about nutrition that you should be consuming enough water to where your urine is almost or even always clear...

[Aboot]

Impossible, unless you're talking about drinking so much water that you're diluting the mineral content of your blood, which a few gallons a day will not do. The only problem that could occur would be if you raised your water intake for a long while then decreased it. Your body would have to re-adjust but would continue to eliminate water from your system for a while (urine) like you were still taking in the same amount of water.

But short answer, no it's good for you. The more water in, the more toxins out of your system.

[AnabolicAlien]

hey.

i appreciate your reply but to say "impossible" is rather close minded. please don't be offended, but you're only looking at it in terms of "diluting blood and mineral/electrolyte content".

i and others are looking at it in terms of the amount of toxins in the water you're putting in the body with all those gallons. even spring water has some trace toxins in it and substances that were used to purify it. also, when you guzzle water all the time your levels of adh "anti-diuretic hormone" are fluctuating like crazy which can have many implications.

i'll get your more information on all this and please don't just dismiss it as something as simple as if you take in too much you'll just piss it out. you're kidneys are amazing at absorbing nutrients that were filtered in the nephron that your body needs; but if you force them to filter a lot more water because of a huge intake you may start significant amounts of these nutrients.


E.T.

[iNvid]

Good question, I was waiting for someone to ask this. Bump for some answers

[AnabolicAlien]

Links (I'll be editing this post adding more):

http://www.teamflex.com/health_fitne...much_water.asp

http://www.hhp.ufl.edu/keepingfit/AR...omuchwater.htm

http://www.pihealth.com/water.htm

http://www.pressrepublican.com/Archi...050120031c.htm
i used to party at this fraternity. (((embarassed))) READ THIS ONE!

E.T.

[AnabolicAlien]

Drinking Too Much Water Can Kill You
Excerpt By Alison McCook, Reuter's Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new review of three deaths of US military recruits highlights the dangers of drinking too much water.


The military has traditionally focused on the dangers associated with heat illness, which has killed a number of healthy, young enrollees, Colonel John W. Gardner of the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner in Rockville, Maryland told Reuters Health. However, pushing the need to drink water too far can also have deadly consequences, he said.

"The risk has always been not drinking enough," Gardner said. "And then people who aren't medically attuned get overzealous," inducing recruits to drink amounts of water that endanger their health, he added.

"That's why we published this paper: to make it clear to people that overzealousness can be dangerous," Gardner explained.

In September 1999, a 19-year-old Air Force recruit collapsed during a 5.8-mile walk, with a body temperature of 108 degrees Fahrenheit. Doctors concluded he had died of both heat stroke and low blood sodium levels as a result of overhydration.

During January 2000, a 20-year-old trainee in the Army drank around 12 quarts of water during a 2- to 4-hour period while trying to produce a urine specimen for a drug test. She then experienced fecal incontinence, lost consciousness and became confused, then died from swelling in the brain and lungs as a result of low blood sodium.

In March 2001, a 19-year-old Marine died from drinking too much water after a 26-mile march, during which he carried a pack and gear weighing more than 90 pounds. Although he appeared fine during the beginning stages of the 8-hour walk, towards the end he began vomiting and appeared overly tired. He was then sent to the hospital, where he fell into a coma, developed brain swelling and died the next day. It is unclear how much water he drank during the march, but Marines were given a "constant emphasis" on drinking water before and during the activity, Gardner writes in the latest issue of Military Medicine.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Gardner explained that drinking too much water is dangerous because the body cannot excrete that much fluid. Excess water then goes to the bowel, which pulls salt into it from the body, diluting the concentration of salt in the tissues.

Changing the concentration of salt, in turn, causes a shifting of fluids within the body, which can then induce a swelling in the brain. The swollen organ will then press against the bones of the skull, and become damaged.

The researcher added that previous cases of water toxicity have been noted in athletes who consume excessive amounts in order to avoid heat stroke. In addition, certain psychiatric patients may drink too much water in an attempt to wash away their sins, or flush out poisons they believe have entered their bodies.

In 1998, the Army released fluid replacement guidelines, which recommend a certain intake of water but limit it to 1 to 1-1/2 quarts per hour and 12 quarts per day.

It takes a while for these guidelines to get "permeated out" to everybody, Gardner admitted. In the meantime, he suggested that bases take notice of the mistakes of others, and "not wait for somebody to die from (water toxicity) again," he said.

"You can't prevent everything bad from happening," Gardner noted. "But when it does, you have to learn from it."

SOURCE: Military Medicine 2002;167:432-434.


(link http://www.preventdisease.com/news/a...ch_water.shtml)

[Aboot]

also, when you guzzle water all the time your levels of adh "anti-diuretic hormone" are fluctuating like crazy which can have many implications.

But your pituitary gland only secrete adh if the concentration of Na in your blood is low. Thus if you are consistently drinking the same amount of water, there would be no flucuations. As well, the body would adapt to your water intake. Also, I doubt that your body would run out of a hormone. Your body is built to withstand a whole lot more than a bunch of water.

As for the toxins in water, the toxins that we ingest on a daily basis that water flushes out of our system would be far more dangerous to us than those in water, unless you were drinking from a contaminated source.

[AnabolicAlien]

ummm...

first, i'm in the medical field and i know this stuff very well. you're correct in saying that adh fluctuates according to sodium levels in the serum (unless blood volume gets really low), but that is directly correlated to fluid intake.

i never said that the body could run out of the hormone.

i'm trying to see if the following statement you made is wrong: "the toxins that we ingest on a daily basis that water flushes out of our system would be far more dangerous to us than those in water, unless you were drinking from a contaminated source."

i don't know about you but when i chug my gallon + water a day i can't do it slowly 24 hours/day so i know my levels of adh must be fluxuating.

i'm not saying you are wrong about anything you said!! ... i'm just saying that some researchers are finding this statement i quoted above to be incorrect.


E.T.

[Aboot]

What specific toxins are you talking about?

[einstein1905]

We're also (most of us) taking in 2x and more the RDA for caloric intake and usually many-fold the RDA of most micronutrients, electrolytes included. So, takin gin what others may see as an exorbitant volume of water per day is actually not, when considering our water intake relative to our micronutrient intake.

[AnabolicAlien]

einstein - very true about out caloric and nutrient intake. did you read any of the articles i posted links to?

to me it doesn't make sense to force myself to drink that much water if my body feels it doesn't need it and after reading those articles i'm starting to question things... plus there's a lot of talk about this around the gym lately.

E.T.

[MMC78]

We're also (most of us) taking in 2x and more the RDA for caloric intake and usually many-fold the RDA of most micronutrients, electrolytes included. So, takin gin what others may see as an exorbitant volume of water per day is actually not, when considering our water intake relative to our micronutrient intake.

Good post. We get a ton of calcium/potassium from our foods: skahes, fruit, etc. The only concern I would have is regarding sodium.

[jjay29]

[IMG]i heard if you drink to much water this might happen

[AnabolicAlien]

sorta funny but not really... keep working on it bro!

now this is funny:



E.T.

[Danielle]

[IMG]i heard if you drink to much water this might happen

lol.........nope....cause then i'd be a least a D by now.......

[brian11]

****, i worry so much about getting my 2 gallons a day in, if it is too much and ive been pissing all this time for nothing, im going to be really upset

-B-

[DBarcelo]

Under normal conditions, you really can't drink too much water. If you drink too much water too fast while you're in oxygen dept, then you can kill yourself. While working out or doing cardio, don't drink any more than a cup of water every hour and you'll be fine. When you're not under physical stress, you can drink several gallons of fluid every day without a problem. Except for constantly having to go to the bathroom.

[Prime]

i wrote a post about this somewhere else, i wanted to post it here but cant find it Anyway ill put down the main points as i remember them.
From what i gather you can actually drown from drinking too much water. Cell membraines are like a sponge and so if you pump in enough water they will obviously begin to absorb alot. If they become oversaturated there is a chance they can rupture and burst, leaking more fluid into an already overloaded area.
Also if you drink too much water it could theoretically wash out to much potassium form your system, causing an electrolyte imbalance and an ensuing cardiac arrest. Well thats what i have read, im not a doctor but the article made sense. Ill have to try and find it again.

[brian11]

i wrote a post about this somewhere else, i wanted to post it here but cant find it Anyway ill put down the main points as i remember them.
From what i gather you can actually drown from drinking too much water. Cell membraines are like a sponge and so if you pump in enough water they will obviously begin to absorb alot. If they become oversaturated there is a chance they can rupture and burst, leaking more fluid into an already overloaded area.
Also if you drink too much water it could theoretically wash out to much potassium form your system, causing an electrolyte imbalance and an ensuing cardiac arrest. Well thats what i have read, im not a doctor but the article made sense. Ill have to try and find it again.

The words "too much water" are getting tossed around here without any definition of what too much is. Also, I started taking potassium supplement because i was worried about the electolyte imbalance.

-B-

[einstein1905]

The words "too much water" are getting tossed around here without any definition of what too much is. Also, I started taking potassium supplement because i was worried about the electolyte imbalance.

-B-

As with everything, "too much" is very hard to define. We all aren't the same size, for starters, so blood volume can vary quite a bit. Also, as mentioned before, we're taking in a great deal more micronutrients than the average person, so actually our water intake NEEDS to be greater than theirs to support the proper ion concentrations in our bodies. I'm not in a position to put a number to it, but "too much" is more than is being implied here IMO....we can't be compared to 175lb Joe Blow sedentary 2000 calorie/day guys.

[brian11]

As with everything, "too much" is very hard to define. We all aren't the same size, for starters, so blood volume can vary quite a bit. Also, as mentioned before, we're taking in a great deal more micronutrients than the average person, so actually our water intake NEEDS to be greater than theirs to support the proper ion concentrations in our bodies. I'm not in a position to put a number to it, but "too much" is more than is being implied here IMO....we can't be compared to 175lb Joe Blow sedentary 2000 calorie/day guys.

I totally agree, that was the point i was trying to get at. Thanks

-B-

[Psychotron]

As long as you are getting a good amount of sodium. 3 gallons of water wont hurt you. plus. on a single workout you deplete so much of the water is sick. I bet it is harmful to someone who doesnt nothing all day. I have heard about it being harmful though.

[Quake]

Supplement all the electrolytes in your body, if you are worried about it that much, but not only do you have to think of your supplementation/cloric intake ratio to the amount of water that you drink, but think about how much you train too. Personally I do sometimes 2 and a half to 3 hours of cardio a day (on rugby training days) plus I do my usual weight lifting workout (these days happen twice a week) so the amount I sweat means I have to supplement electrolytes, and have to drink a hell of a lot of water. At the moment I'm averaging between 4 to 6 litres a day. Obviously around 4 on the lesser training days.

Also, does anyone know the percentage of the body that is made up of water?

[DBarcelo]

You're not going to drown from drinking too much water.

[einstein1905]

They actually have an impedance tester for race horses that tests, you guessed, impedance, which is indicative or electrolyte levels. One can supplement the appropriate volumes of water and electrolytes to maintain optimal physiological levels

[Rob]

this thread is old school..but thats the stupidest thing iv ever heard...how bout you stop drinking water and ill drink tons of it..we'll see who dies first...

[TheDfromGC]

only problem with too much water is it washing away ur sodium levels, then u can be in danger, my neighbor had a seizure from that, but if u just get a decent amount of sodium while consuming water u wont have any problems...

[63190]

"In 1998, the Army released fluid replacement guidelines, which recommend a certain intake of water but limit it to 1 to 1-1/2 quarts per hour and 12 quarts per day."
How many quarts in a gallon? 4 right? 12/4=3, yes or no? So two gallons/day is nothing. Plus, like that one dude said, as bodybuilders, we're consuming way more than the RDA. Just drink enough water to make your urine clear. That's the gauge I use. If it's yellow, I keep drinking water until it's clear. But I don't try and chug a gallon at a time. I fill up a 12-16 oz. cup and drink a lil' at a time until its gone, then repeat as often as necessary.

[mushroomstampr]

http://www.pressrepublican.com/Archi...050120031c.htm
i used to party at this fraternity. (((embarassed))) READ THIS ONE!

E.T.

I know one of the frat brothers charged when that kid died, partied with him a couple of times during the summer. Fortunately he got off, but that was serious for awhile bc he was supposedly going to jail for manslaugter or somthing. People don't drink multiple gallons of water and do mad pushups in an hour or you may die.

[Lostsoul]

Drink an amount of water that you're comfortable with. Saying you have to drink x amount of water a day and that everyone should do it is stupid, everyone is different. I doubt a 5'5 130lb dude can drink 2 gal of water a day, where as I can drink more than 3-4 on a hot day (6'5 290lb). Drink till your urine is clear and you're not thirsty, simple.

You can die from anything if you have too much of it, so yes you can die from drinking too much water (hydrophelic). You will lose too many minerals if you force it down anyway.

[Animal Cracker]

Water intake will obviously differ person to person due to difference in size, activity levels, bodily needs etc etc.. surely we can all see that a BB'er that eats a massive amt of food, and is on AAS will need much more water than the accountant that sees almost no physical activity throughout his day.

For me, I try to say alteast 8 liters minimum.

[GREENMACHINE]

this thread is old school..but thats the stupidest thing iv ever heard...how bout you stop drinking water and ill drink tons of it..we'll see who dies first...

You restarted an old thread.

[Rob]

yea so?

[Doc M]

Actually I am very glad that this thread was restarted..I was in th eprocess of peparing an article on this topic for the system admin before I left for overseas and was unable to complete it..AA brings up a very legitimate point..Too much water intake is very possible and has resulted in deaths..There is even a slang medical term tht is used and it is "Water Intoxication"..There is a lot that is involved but the skinny of it is that too much water increases stress on the kidneys, placing your body in a flux that can crash and result in renal failure accompanied by heart and lung stress..There are documented, peer reviewed studies that confirm this..Unfortunately I do not have access to them where I am, but I will post some when I return to the states..

Everyone is mentioning potassium, sodium, electrolytes, etc, not taking into account that all of those combined together can cause the body excessive stress that can be unrecoverable in certain individuals..You could break it down to a cellular level and it would possibly make more sense to some of you, but the overall picture is that too much water too quickly can have dire consequences..

Doc M

[Animal Cracker]

Thanks Doc!