While we are being told daily that drinking water is good for us and we need to replace the water our bodies continuously lose due to breathing, urination and sweating, there is such a thing as drinking too much water.
The human body is dependent on drinking water to ensure that every cell can do what it needs to do. The brain consists of 90% water; the blood is 83% water; bones are 22% water, and muscles consist of 75% water so you can see that without water we would be and could do nothing.
How Can One Drink Too Much Water?
Drinking water to replace the lost body fluids constantly is a must, an a great way of ensuring that this is done, especially for those who do not like water, is to invest in an office water cooler. Office water coolers ensure that you have a constant supply of drinking water that is free of toxins, chilled and great-tasting.
Drinking too much water is a rarity, but it can happen. Virtually all deaths in healthy individuals from drinking too much water have occurred from:
- Participation in water drinking contests in which people attempt to consume vast amounts of water in a very short period of time
- long contests comprising intensive exercise, during which electrolytes are not replenished although large amounts of fluids are consumed
- Water cure or water-boarding, in which individuals are forced to consume vast amounts of water as torture
Just like any other substance that can be poisonous when taken in excessive amounts, drinking too much water too quickly can be poisonous.
Water Intoxication
Too much water in the human body is called hyponatremia, or water intoxication. It is not so much that you have too much water in your system as it is that you have an imbalance between water and electrolytes.
When the body loses water through sweating it also loses electrolytes, which is medical term for ions comprised of 4 minerals that include Potassium (K), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na) and Calcium (Ca). Electrolytes act like a wall switch, turning on all thought and motion. If you then drink too much water to replenish your body, you dilute the electrolytes that are already minimal in your system.
To ensure correct hydration if you are quite a bit dehydrated, add a half a teaspoon of salt to one of the glasses of drinking water. This should even out the balance of water and electrolytes in your body.
Remember too, drinking water to replace lost fluids is the best way to keep the body hydrates, but it is not how much water you drink that is dangerous but how quickly you drink it! Drinking water throughout the day is far healthier than getting dehydrated and then drinking 2 litres of water is a short period of time.
Source:
Get bottled water coolers and mains water coolers from Living-Water. Rent water coolers and buy water dispensers for your office or home.
