What happens if you drink too much water

The best place to start is to estimate how much water your body needs on average. Many of us guzzle a set number of glasses per day to reach our H20 goals, which is a good way to get past your perma-parched ways in the beginning—but because hydration levels fluctuate day-to-day based on the weather, how hydrating your diet is, how active you are, and other bevvies you sip along the way, the amount of water you drink to fill in the blanks should be adjusted accordingly so as to not overdo it.

One of the easiest ways to fine-tune your hydration habits is to stop looking at it as a water-centric practice, and instead shift your focus to include fluids as a whole. Roughly 20 percent of daily fluid intake usually comes from food, and the rest from drinks, according to the Mayo Clinic. If soups, fruits and veggies, and smoothies are a regular part of your diet, then you might not need to replenish as often—the same goes for foods that melt at room temperature or are held in a gel matrix think: Jell-O or pudding , she adds.

Nearly any beverage can count toward meeting your daily fluid needs—including coffee. Alcohol and energy drinks, says Dixon. Alcohol causes your body to lose more fluid than you get from the beverage itself, while heavily caffeinated energy drinks may have so much caffeine in them that they also act as a diuretic.

Don't get us wrong: water is absolutely an essential part of our overall health , and becoming dehydrated can lead to all sorts of problems. But where hydration is concerned, it is possible to drink too much water. Here's what to know about drinking far more water than you need to, or overhydration, including the signs, risks, and treatments.

In short, yes: There is such a thing as drinking too much water—but why is that bad? According to Natasha Trentacosta, MD , a sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, overhydration is often seen in athletes if they drink an excessive amount of water. Doing so can dilute the sodium in their bodies, resulting in a condition called hyponatremia. Additionally, people with certain kidney diseases can become overhydrated without drinking large amounts of water, because they are unable to regulate the excretion of the water in their urine, Dr.

Trentacosta explains. The Answer May Surprise You. If you're wondering how much water you should drink each day , you're not alone, as the varying advice can get confusing. According to Dr. Trentacosta, staying properly hydrated means taking in roughly 30 to 50 ounces of water, and doing so periodically throughout the day. The most common signs of overhydration are confusion, disorientation, nausea, and vomiting, Dr. Lang says. She adds that in more severe cases, additional symptoms can include muscle cramping, weakness, increased blood pressure, double vision, and difficulty breathing.

Hyponatremia also commonly affects people with severe mental illness, like schizophrenia , who feel compelled to drink a lot of water, says Chris McStay, MD , an associate professor with the department of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado in Aurora.

McStay says. According to the Mayo Clinic, other potential causes of hyponatremia which can occur in different severities, ranging from mild to severe, and have different onset periods, from slow to rapid include:. The U. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommend drinking The exact amount of water you need each day depends on factors like your age, sex, activity level, and how hot it is outside.

But one easy way to know how much you need to drink is to trust your own body, Rosner says. Many of the symptoms of hyponatremia overlap with those for heatstroke, heat exhaustion , and dehydration , McStay says.

Hyponatremia can lead to seizures, coma, and severe neurological symptoms, including brain damage. Dying from drinking too much water is rare, but as noted, it has happened.