Drinking too much water can result in a condition called hyponatremia, which is a dangerous drop in blood sodium levels.
Electrolytes such as potassium, sodium, and mgnesium help regulate everything from your kidneys to your heart function.
If you consume too much water, there may not be enough of these electrolytes in your body to keep it functioning properly.
You might know that dark-colored urine can be a sign of dehydration, but that doesn’t mean you should aim to produce urine that’s clear.
According to scientists, pale yellow urine that looks like lemonade indicates a healthy level of hydration.
Colorless urine, on the other hand, might mean you are overhydrated and need to reduce your water intake.
If you notice that you’re going to bathroom more than usual than you are definitely drinking more water.
People can develop overhydration if they have a disorder that decreases the body’s ability to excrete water or increases the body’s tendency to retain water.
Drinking too much water rarely causes overhydration because normal kidneys easily excrete excess water.
Often, no symptoms occur, but in severe overhydration, people may become confused or have seizures.
Regardless of the cause of overhydration, fluid intake usually must be restricted (but only as advised by doctors).
Drinking less than a quart of fluids a day usually results in improvement over several days. If overhydration occurs with excess blood volume because of heart, liver, or kidney disease, restricting the intake of sodium is also helpful because sodium causes the body to retain water.
Drink adequate water. Not more. Not less.
