Water How Much Do You Really Need?

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Why Drinking Too Much Water Is Dangerous

http://drbenkim.com/drink-too-much-water-dangerous.html

By Dr. Ben Kim on March 04, 2007 Health Warnings

On January 12, 2007, a 28-year old Californian wife and mother of three

children died from drinking too much water. Her body was found in her home

shortly after she took part in a water-drinking contest that was sponsored

by a local radio show. Entitled " Hold Your Wee For A Wii, " the contest

promoters promised a free Wii video game machine to the contestant who drank

the most water without urinating.

It is estimated that the woman who died drank approximately 2 gallons of

water during the contest. When she and other contestants complained of

discomfort and showed visible signs of distress, they were laughed at by the

promoters and even heckled.

This tragic news story highlights the importance of understanding why

drinking too much water can be dangerous to your health.

Whenever you disregard your sense of thirst and strive to ingest several

glasses of water a day just because you have been told that doing so is good

for your health, you actually put unnecessary strain on your body in two

major ways:

Ingesting more water than you need can increase your total blood volume. And

since your blood volume exists within a closed system - your blood

circulatory system - needlessly increasing your blood volume on a regular

basis puts unnecessary burden on your heart and blood vessels.

Your kidneys must work overtime to filter excess water out of your blood

circulatory system. Your kidneys are not the equivalent of a pair of

plumbing pipes whereby the more water you flush through your kidneys, the

cleaner they become; rather, the filtration system that exists in your

kidneys is composed in part by a series of specialized capillary beds called

glomeruli. Your glomeruli can get damaged by unnecessary wear and tear over

time, and drowning your system with large amounts of water is one of many

potential causes of said damage.

Putting unnecessary burden on your cardiovascular system and your kidneys by

ingesting unnecessary water is a subtle process. For the average person, it

is virtually impossible to know that this burden exists, as there are

usually no obvious symptoms on a moment-to-moment basis. But make no mistake

about it: this burden is real and can hurt your health over the long term.

Forcing your body to accept a large amount of water within a short period of

time - say, an hour or two - as several contestants did during the " Hold

Your Wee for a Wii " contest can be fatally dangerous to your health. Here's

why:

If you force large amounts of water into your system over a short period of

time, your kidneys will struggle to eliminate enough water from your system

to keep the overall amount at a safe level.

As your blood circulatory system becomes diluted with excess water, the

concentration of electrolytes in your blood will drop relative to the

concentration of electrolytes in your cells. In an effort to maintain an

equal balance of electrolytes between your blood and your cells, water will

seep into your cells from your blood, causing your cells to swell.

If this swelling occurs in your brain, the bones that make up your skull

hardly budge. The result is an increase in intracranial pressure I.e. Your

brain gets squeezed. Depending on how much water your drink in a short

period of time, you could experience a wide variety of symptoms, ranging

from a mild headache to impaired breathing. And as occurred recently in the

tragic water-drinking contest, it is quite possible to die if you drink

enough water in a short enough period of time.

This information is particularly important for parents to pass on to their

children. Foolish water-drinking contests are not uncommon among high school

and university students, especially while playing cards.

So how much water should you drink to best support your health?

The answer to this question depends on your unique circumstances, including

your diet, exercise habits, and environment.

If you eat plenty of foods that are naturally rich in water, such as

vegetables, fruits, and cooked legumes and whole grains, you may not need to

drink very much water at all. If you do not use much or any salt and other

seasonings, your need for drinking water goes down even further.

Conversely, if you do not eat a lot of plant foods and/or you add

substantial salt and spices to your meals, you may need to drink several

glasses of water every day.

Regardless of what your diet looks like, if you sweat on a regular basis

because of exercise or a warm climate, you will need to supply your body

with more water (through food and/or liquids) than someone who does not

sweat regularly.

Ultimately, the best guidance I can provide on this issue is to follow your

sense of thirst. Some people believe that thirst is not a reliable indicator

of how much water you need, since many people suffer with symptoms related

to dehydration and don't seem to feel a need to drink water on a regular

basis. My experience has been that most people who are chronically

dehydrated have learned to ignore a parched mouth. If you ask such people if

they are thirsty and would like a piece of fruit or a glass of water, they

will almost always realize that they are indeed thirsty.

Some people suggest observing the color of your urine as a way of looking

out for dehydration. The idea is that clear urine indicates that you are

well hydrated, while yellow urine indicates that you need more water in your

system. While this advice is somewhat useful, it is important to remember

that some chemicals (like synthetic vitamins) and heavily pigmented foods

(like red beets) can add substantial color to your urine. Thumbs down for

synthetic vitamins, and thumbs up for red beets and other richly colored

vegetables and fruits.

The main idea that I wish to share through this article is to beware of

mindlessly drinking several glasses of water per day without considering

your diet, exercise habits, climate, and sense of thirst. And when you do

find yourself in need of water, remember that you can get it from liquids

and/or whole foods.

Please share this article with family and friends, as many people are

regularly misinformed on this topic by mainstream media and health

practitioners.

http://drbenkim.com/drink-too-much-water-dangerous.html

[Guest guest]

>The answer to this question depends on your unique circumstances, including

>your diet, exercise habits, and environment.

>If you eat plenty of foods that are naturally rich in water, such as

>vegetables, fruits, and cooked legumes and whole grains, you may not need to

>drink very much water at all. If you do not use much or any salt and other

>seasonings, your need for drinking water goes down even further.

>Conversely, if you do not eat a lot of plant foods and/or you add

>substantial salt and spices to your meals, you may need to drink several

>glasses of water every day.

>Regardless of what your diet looks like, if you sweat on a regular basis

>because of exercise or a warm climate, you will need to supply your body

>with more water (through food and/or liquids) than someone who does not

>sweat regularly.

This isn't advice I will follow. Most people do not get enough

water. Obviously excessive water drinking and contests are stupid. But to

say that people get enough water from other liquids and foods is ignoring

the fact that the body needs clear water to clean itself. I still think

the advice for half one's weight in ounces is good.

It's actually important to drink the water away from meals. And, don't eat

regular table salt or what is commonly called " sea salt " -- both of those

cause mineral imbalances in the body which affect everything from nutrient

assimilation to heart regulation, and which is why " salt " is called " bad " .

I recently posted information on this, to use natural, whole salt.

I just think this doctor is reactive. So many of today's illnesses and

discomforts are related to dehydration, because the body cannot detoxify

without adequate hydration.

I had a mineral imbalance for many years because I went to a Ceremony in

the desert and never ate any salt. Humans need whole natural salt and they

need good clean water. Both are essential to life.

--V

~~~ There is no way to peace; peace is the way ~~~~

--A.J. Muste