Dietitians constantly warn us that drinking enough water is vital in order for our bodies to function properly. And drinking too much water is also unless. Though most individuals look out for the signs of dehydration, overhydration is fairly dangerous. Drink too much water can cause or happens water intoxication, also known as hyponatremia, causing the liquid to move from your blood to inside your cells, making them swell. Swelling within the brain is serious and needs immediate treatment. In severe cases, water intoxication will cause debilitative health issues like seizures, coma, and even death.
The best way to understand if your body really desires a lot of water is whether or not you feel thirsty. Our bodies are thus programmed to fight against dehydration. One of these mechanisms that each animal have thirst. Thirst is everybody’s individual monitor that lets them understand if they have more. The additional water you need, the thirstier you get.
If you drink too much water, then there may be some danger to your health, in this case, everyone has a question, how many bottles of water should I drink a day. The answer is a 2-liter water bottle per day. But you may need more or less according to your age, climate, and how active you are. Currently in market have water bottle that remind you to drink water, which is help you to maintain daily limit.
What Happens if You Drink Too Much Water
Overhydration Symptoms
Water intoxication results from the swelling of cells. When brain cells swell, the pressure inside the skull increases. This pressure causes the first symptoms of water intoxication, which include the following:
Nausea And Vomiting
When you drink plenty of water, your kidneys become inadequate to rid of the excess liquid and water starts to collect in the body. This can cause several troublesome symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Headaches
Headaches are both a symptom of overhydration and dehydration. When you take plenty of water, the salt concentration in your blood diminishes, causing the cells in your body to swell and your brain grows in size and presses against the skull. This added pressure can produce a throbbing headache and induce health problems such as brain impairment and trouble breathing.
Swelling or Discoloration in Your Hands, Lips, And Feet
Most times of hyponatremia, people will experience noticeable swelling or discoloration in their hands, lips, and feet. When all the cells throughout your body swell, your skin will start to visibly swell.
Muscle Weakness, Spasms, or Cramps
It compromises when you drink too much water, your electrolyte levels drop and low electrolyte levels can cause several unpleasant symptoms, including muscle spasms and cramping.
Fatigued
When you consume plenty of water, your kidneys have to work even harder, forming a stressful reaction from your hormones that leaves your body stressed and fatigued.
Changes in a Psychological State Like Confusion or Disorientation
Drinking too much water also alters your mental state, such as producing confusion or disorientation.
Untreated overhydration can lead to low levels of sodium in your blood. This can cause more severe symptoms, such as
- Seizures
- Unconsciousness
- Coma
Treatment
Treating overhydration depends on how severe your symptoms are and what caused the condition. Treatments may include:
- Reduce fluid intake
- Taking diuretics to increase urine output
- Treating a condition that caused the overhydration
- Replacing sodium in severe cases
- Stopping any medications that cause the problem