Everyone knows that drinking water is important for staying healthy.
However, drinking too much of it might be deadly.
Drinking too much water might cause water intoxication, hyperhydration, water poisoning, or water toxicity.
How much is too much?
The exact amount of water that can kill you is unknown, however doctors don’t advise consuming more than roughly a litre (L) of water every hour for several hours.
A healthy adult’s kidneys can remove 20 to 28 litres of water per day, but they can only eliminate about 1 litre per hour. When you drink more than 1 litre each hour, your kidneys struggle to keep up
If you consume more water than your kidneys can process, the salt in your blood will be diluted, which can cause cells to expand.
What causes people to drink too much water
Exercise and sports
Most incidents of life-threatening water poisoning that have been reported have involved strenuous physical exercise, such as military training, sporting events or marathon running.
Mental health
Others have happened as a result of excessive water intake brought on by a mental health issue like schizophrenia and psychosis and compulsive water drinking known as psychogenic polydipsia.
Drugs
The use of the drug MDMA has also been related to water intoxication, particularly at music concerts. That’s because individuals are frequently dancing for a long time while it’s hot. You may drink a lot of water as a result of this and MDMA’s propensity to make you feel hotter.
How much water should you drink?
The typical rule is it’s sufficient to drink water when you feel thirsty. However people between the ages of 19-30 are recommended to drink 3.7 litres for men and women 2.7 litre Though older people might drink more water.
