Drinking to much water.

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Forum -> Health & Wellness -> Healthy Lifestyle/ Weight Loss/ Exercise

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rainbow baby

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 4:53 pm

Is it possible to drink to much water? I am on a diet and my diet coach said that I should drink lots. At least 8 cups of water a day. Yesterday I drank 15. I have been saying to my mother that I have been having bad headaches she said it was down to not drinking enough. But surely 15 cups of herbal tea and water should be enough!!! Does anyone know if drinking to much can cause headaches?

chen

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 5:42 pm

it's not impossible but very difficult. 15 glasses over 24 hours is more than most ppl can do but will not usually cause problems except having to go all the time. It's far more likely that you are not eating enough than you are drinking too much.

However, if you drink too much too quickly, you can dilute your body fluids and cause temporary problems like dizziness and fainting due to electrolyte imbalance. Drinking a LOT over a very short time--like a gallon in 15 minutes--can be fatal. you have to give your body a chance to absorb the water gradually, so spread the intake over the course of the day.

Watch out for herbal teas. A few cups a day is probably fine, but don't take in huge quantities like 10 cups a day. teas that are harmless in small quantities may have undesirable or even dangerous effects when taken in mass quantities.

If you are sure you are eating enough, try cutting back to 8-10 glasses a day unless you are exercising strenuously and/or it's very hot and see if your headaches go away. also, if you are drinking icy cold water, which can cause headaches, try room-temperature water.

rainbow baby

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 5:50 pm

Watch out for herbal teas. A few cups a day is probably fine, but don't take in huge quantities like 10 cups a day. teas that are harmless in small quantities may have undesirable or even dangerous effects when taken in mass quantities.

Very interesting those cups of teas were all herbal teas, from detox ones to camamile, honey and vinilla ones. I am probably going to sound stupid now but what possible counld be dangerous about drinking a lot of herbal teas?

ektsm

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 5:51 pm

Just curious, why do people drink tons of water when they are on a diet. Is it to stave off hunger or does it have some kind of weight loss effect?

rainbow baby

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 5:56 pm

My diet coach said that it was something to do with breaking down the fat cells. Also she said that warm drinks fill you up. To tell you the truth I am starting to think that half of the stuff that she says is a load of rubbish. I am ment to have tiny piece of protein no bigger then my baby finger nail every 15 minutes. Yeah right how am I ment to keep up with that with three small kids. She says that a small piece of pickled cucumber is ment to help with water retention. What do you think about all these things, starting to get a bit fed up with it. If it has worked for anyone slse please tell me.

Tefila

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 6:09 pm

Quote:

Is she a human or an alien shock

rainbow baby

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 6:11 pm

Tefila wrote:

Quote:

Is she a human or an alien shock

ALIEN FROM OUT OF SPACE. Rolling Laughter

chen

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 6:36 pm

uh, yeah, it sounds like claptrap. lots of water is recommended for everyone, dieting or not. 8-10 glasses a day, more if sweating a lot. warm water is absorbed faster than cold, but if you like cold water, go ahead and drink it. if your urine is pale, you are probably getting enough water. if it is deep yellow, drink more!

water doesn't break down fat cells (fat cells don't disappear, they just get smaller as the stored fat gets used up, the way a camel's hump shrinks as the stored water is used up), but it does help fill you up, flush away cellular waste, keep your skin plumped up, your joints lubed, your eyes moist, and your kidneys happy. pickled products tend to be very high in sodium, which tends to cause watre retention. if you like salty or pickled foods, don't drink less--drink more to help get rid of the excess salt. if you don't like pickles, lucky you! don't eat 'em.

you need about half a gram of protein per day for every 2 lbs. you weigh. If you weigh 150, you need about 75 grams of protein. It doesn't matter how you distribute it during the day, though it's usually best to space out your intake rather than feast and famine. that does not mean eating every 15 minutes, but 3 normal meals and 2 snacks, or 5-6 mini-meals a day. read nutrition labels. a cup of skim milk has 8 grams of protein. a slice of cheese about 5. you also need other goodies like carbhydrates and a little fat.

weight watchers has a very sensible eating plan based on good nutritional principles. (no I am not being paid to say that.) if you don't want to join (it's expensive) you can just follow the plan on your own. it's not fast and dramatic but it is healthy and it works.

as for herbal teas, depends on the herb in question. some of them can be quite toxic, esp. in large quantities or in combination. a teabag or three per day of a reputable brand and not one of the "medicinal" herbs is usually just fine. just don't go overboard. see
www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/CON00007.html

ektsm

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 7:26 pm

DOes the amount of weight you have to lose have an effect on these rules?

cindy324

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 7:31 pm

BTW, I heard someplace that it is possible to drink too much water. I can't remember the name of the condition but supposedly athletes can suffer from it from - you guessed it - drinking too mmuch water. It's called hydro-something What

amother

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 8:10 pm

It's called hyponatremia
Hypo=not enough
Na=sodium
emia=blood

Electrolytes are too diluted in the blood. I have heard of a marathon runner who died of this condition.
I don't know how much you have to drink to reach this point, though.

realeez

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 8:15 pm

chen, weight watchers online is much cheaper. something like $80 for 3 months (or was that much last year)

red sea

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 8:18 pm

also, if you drink too much water you're body won't properly digest and absorb the nutrients from your food, everything in moderation, don't flood yourself. herbal teas are medicines, they really do things so don't overdo that either.

chocolate moose

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 9:54 pm

I'd wondr what else you are eating and drinking, and tell a dr that.

amother

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 10:17 pm

(okay, off topic) but PLEASE use the correct too.
drinking too much water.
After seeing these mistakes day after day, I'm afraid I'll forget proper spelling and grammar!

ektsm

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 10:18 pm

What?

chen

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 11:08 pm

ektsm wrote:

DOes the amount of weight you have to lose have an effect on these rules?

nope. except that, the more you have to lose the longer you are dieting and the more damage you can do if you do the wrong stuff. an extreme example: most healthy adults can survive without ill effect 25 hours with no food or water (think yom kippur) but three days of this regimen would be fatal.

chen

Wed, Apr 26 2006, 11:24 pm

amother wrote:

t's not just a question of volume of water intake but also of rate of intake. the faster you drink, the faster the electrolyte concentration drops and the worse the effects are. In athletes the effects are aggravated by the fact that electrolytes are also lost in the sweat, so there is a less than normal amount of electrolyte to begin with, which is compounded by excessive water intake.

not to worry, it's most difficult for a regular person--even a very thirsty regular person-- to drink that much at one time. occasionally one hears of a college student being forced to down huge volumes during a hazing, or responding to a dare, but most people would feel way too uncomfortable with a bellyful of water to down anywhere near a dangerous dose. Drinking too little water is a much more common problem.

rainbow baby

Thu, Apr 27 2006, 3:02 pm

Thanks everyone for your advice. Today so far I've drank 6 cups, only two of these have been herbal tea the rest have been water. I only have a slight headache today, over the past few days were I've been drinking loads I've had a huge headache. So I guess hopefully it was down to drinking to much and having to many herbal teas.

The diet that I am on is a high protein low carb diet.

amother

Thu, Jul 27 2006, 7:44 am

you definitely can drink too much water. my sister was on some meds and it made her very dry in the mouth and so she started drinking about 3 - 5 liters of water a DAY. that my friend is tooooo much water. she finally had a seizure b/c all of the electralites in her body got diluted (for lack of a better word) and her body had to let go.

so, yes, there is such a thing as toooooo much water.

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