Too much of anything can be bad for you– all of us know this. But do you know that this holds true for water as well? Water is good for rehydration. However when it surpasses the allowable consumption limitations, it can make individuals ill.
There have been severe cases where the over-consumption of water had actually resulted in death. You might have been told to drink a growing number of water, but the result can be deadly when you disregard your real body requirements. The phenomenon is called water intoxication. There are many methods which your body is over-stressed.
Drinking Too Much Water Side Effects
Causes Hyponatremia
The salt content in the blood influences the performance of the electrolytes. These electrolytes are responsible for sending signals to the cells which control various operations of the body.
When you take in too much water, the salt levels in the blood reduction. This stops the electrolytes from sending signals to the cells.
Hyponatremia is a disease caused due to insufficient levels of sodium in the blood. When the level of sodium falls listed below 135 mm per liter, it causes swelling in cells.
The symptoms of this disease include queasiness, vomiting, fatigue, extreme urination, disorientation, and headache. It is the worst result of drinking excessive water as it might eventually cause death. Nevertheless, it is quite uncommon and unusual.
Overburdens the Heart
The heart carries out the crucial function of pumping blood through your whole body. When you take in excessive of water, this increases the volume of blood inside your body.
The increased blood volume causes unnecessary pressure on the capillary and the heart, causing seizure in some cases.
Causes Damage to Glomeruli
Glomeruli are capillary beds in our kidneys. They work as a filtering station to excrete excess water from the body. Excessive of water can cause possible damage to this system, resulting in serious health hazards.
The kidneys need to work overtime to process all this unneeded water that is beyond their typical filtering capability (1000 ml per hour).
Causes Swelling of Cells
As your blood gets diluted due to excess water, the concentration of electrolytes in the blood becomes lower than that in the cells.
To preserve a balance in the concentration of electrolytes in the blood and the cells, water starts to flow into the cells. This results in swelling of cells, which is a hazardous condition.
Causes Brain Edema
This is the swelling of brain cells. It is as dangerous as it sounds. Most of the cells in our body have a lot of room to extend. But the flat bones in our skull do not leave much area for the brain cells to be accommodated freely.
When excess water in the capillary begins permeating into the brain cells, it causes swelling in the cells of the brain. This results in severe conditions that include coma, brainstem herniation, and breathing attack.
Diminishes Potassium
Potassium is an important nutrient for your body and you need to preserve its proper levels as such.
However often, excess water causes a dip in the concentration of potassium. This may cause problems like irritation, chest pain, leg pain, etc.
Causes Stomach Inflammation
Often, consuming excess water results in an imbalance in electrolytes. This imbalance leads to inflammation in your stomach. It is also an initial stage of hyponatremia.
Liver Problems
Here, it is very important to keep in mind that this problem is not caused by merely drinking too much water. Rather, it takes place by drinking too much of water with iron in it.
Iron overload is not precisely harmful, however, in uncommon cases, it may cause liver-related problems as well.
Passes on Threats of Chlorine Consumption
Most of the drinking water is treated with chlorine for filtration. Over the years, it has actually been proved that overdosage of chlorine through water causes severe diseases like cancer or organ dysfunction. So when you drink water, even the bottled one, you are susceptible to these risks.
Excessive Urination
When you drink great deals of water at once, it is regular that you struggle with extreme urination or frequent urination.
Your body has its own mechanism of absorption and volume reaction. Downing excessive water immediately causes failure of your body to soak up the fluid. For this reason, frequent urination takes place.
These are the side effects caused by consuming excessive water. In case you experience any of these symptoms, you should straightaway go to a doctor.
Don’t try to remedy the situation by minimizing your water consumption all of a sudden. It may likewise have detrimental impacts on your kidneys. Maintain an optimal level of usage and follow your doctor’s suggestions in this matter.
How Much Water is Good for You?
Naturally, all these side effects of drinking extreme water are scary. But you can avoid them quickly by correctly determining the quantity of consumption. The recommended limits of water are 6-8 glasses (8-ounce glasses) daily.
In easier words, you ought to drink about 3 liters of water daily. However, minor deviations are constantly allowed these limitations.
However you need to keep the appropriate level. Although it depends upon your lifestyle, environment, and eating practices, here’s how you can keep a look at your day-to-day water diet:
- Drink enough water to quench your thirst.
- If your food is rich in water content, you need to restrict your water consumption. However, if you use more salt and spices, it is required to drink a bit more than the recommended amount of water per day.
- Examine the color of your urine. Clear urine indicates you are healthy and well-hydrated. But yellowish color indicates the requirement of more water for your body. Here, you ought to remember that often this color may also result from the ingredients in your food.
- Inspect your body weight frequently to ascertain if you are well-hydrated. It needs to correspond and not vary excessive.
Contrary to the fictions that drinking as much water as you can will never ever damage you, these are specific serious side effects of consuming more water.
The concept here is not to hinder you from your routine intake of water, but to caution you concerning the side effects of drinking excessive water.
Do you understand of other results of drinking too much water? Share with us in the comments section below!
Have a Good Day! I Wish You Good Health!
