You can die from drinking too much water?

[vandal]

I’ve been exercising a lot lately. As such, I’ve been drinking a lot of water. Throughout the entire day, I’d say between 3/4 of a gallon to a full gallon.

My friend took notice to the amount of water I was drinking, and mentioned that he read an article that said you can actually die from drinking too much.

Here’s the article, taken from the University of Texas Medical Center.

And, a little excerpt…

Although more people die of dehydration and heat related illnesses, a recent report from the Office of the Armed Forces showed that it’s also possible for people to die from drinking too much water.

<snip>

Water goes from being good for you to dangerous when the body can’t process and eliminate that much water. The excess water ends up taking salt from body tissues, and because of the salt imbalance, the brain may swell, causing brain damage or even death.

Now, you just have to wonder… is there any truth to this?

[something_clever]

i would guess that if youre drinking the water because youre THIRSTY, then its okay, because you need that much water obviously cause youre still thirsty… but if you just drank water non stop, i guess, for fun or something… you might run into that problem

[micco]

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=122052
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=136198

[Nobody]

Too much of anything can be bad for you.

[Ice_Wolf]

A column by Cecil.

[friedo]

Yes, water intoxication is real and can be fatal. You have to drink a lot in a fairly short time, though.

Here is an article about some marathon runners who experience water toxicity.

[friedo]

Yes, water intoxication is real and can be fatal. You have to drink a lot in a fairly short time, though.

Here is an article about some marathon runners who experience water intoxication.

[robby]

*Originally posted by vandal *
**I’ve been exercising a lot lately. As such, I’ve been drinking a lot of water. Throughout the entire day, I’d say between 3/4 of a gallon to a full gallon…

…Now, you just have to wonder… is there any truth to this? **

There is very some truth to this. One problem is that when you sweat, you are also losing sodium choride; i.e. your sweat is salty. If you are only replacing the water, you can throw your body chemistry out of whack.

This is why many athletes take salt tablets, or more frequently, beverages such as Gatorade, which contain various salts.

[Geek_Mecha]

Interesting quote job there, robby. That makes it look like vandal’s not trusting his own memory or consumption estimates.

[The_Humungus]

LEt’s start with salt water poisoning:
you drink salt water. your cells expell thier water trying to create an equilibrium between the inside of the cell and the outside. the fluid in the cells can’t possibly dilute all of the salt water, thus they shrivel up and die trying.
i believe the opposite is true for water poisoning. too much water is being sucked into the cells, thus they blow up.

i tried to find confirmation for this, but it’s a difficult search. This is why there is salt in gatorade and why you soak contact lenses in saline solution. ever soak them in water??? it hurts like hell

[vandal]

Wow, thanks for all the info, everyone.

AudreyK,