But how much water is too much? "Drinking more than the kidneys can eliminate could cause hyponatremia in some people," says Hultin, noting that the kidneys can eliminate 27 to 34 ounces of water per hour, or a total of 676 to 947 ounces (20 to 28 liters) per day. More than that might put you in the danger zone.
When you drink too much water, your kidneys can't get rid of the excess water. The sodium content of your blood becomes diluted. This is called hyponatremia and it can be life-threatening.
The kidneys of a healthy adult can flush out 20 to 28 L of water each day, but they can only get rid of about 1 L each hour. This makes it hard for your kidneys to keep up when you drink more than 1 L per hour.
Drinking too much water can be dangerous
Drinking too much can disrupt your body's electrolyte balance, leading to hyponatremia, or low levels of sodium in your blood ( 21 ). Symptoms of hyponatremia include weakness, confusion, nausea, vomiting, and — in severe cases — even death ( 22 ).
Use a glass and go slow
Sip water slowly than guzzling it down at once. Sipping water and allowing it to stay in the mouth and then passing through the food pipe helps the alkaline saliva reach the stomach to neutralise acid levels in the stomach.
According to nephrologist Dr. John Maesaka, the kidney can only excrete up to 1 liter an hour. This means that if you are severely overhydrated, it will take a few hours after water intake has stopped for the body's hydration levels to return back to normal, even if a diuretic is taken.
Just make sure you pace yourself. “Aim to sip water slowly throughout the day rather than waiting too long and downing an entire bottle or glass at once,” says Hernandez. Be especially careful after a long and sweaty workout. Even if your thirst feels unquenchable, resist the urge to chug bottle after bottle.
“In general, you should try to drink between half an ounce and an ounce of water for each pound you weigh, every day.” For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, that would be 75 to 150 ounces of water a day.
If you're wondering how much water you should drink on those occasions, speak with your doctor, but a general rule of thumb for healthy people is to drink two to three cups of water per hour, or more if you're sweating heavily.
Excess water can cause the body's salt levels to drop, resulting in nausea, vomiting, cramping, exhaustion, and other symptoms. Hyponatremia is the medical term for this condition. Reduces Electrolyte in body: Electrolyte levels drop when you drink too much water, and the balance is shaken off.
How Much? Under the usual conditions of life, 3 – 4 liters of fluids a day will provide 2.5 to 3 liters of urine volume, and this is enough. The average healthy adult bladder holds about 1/2 liter, so this means 7 – 9 bathroom trips in 24 hours.
As fluid intake increases, the amount of urine made will increase along with it. Because the bladder can only hold so much fluid volume, increasing water intake will increase the frequency of urination, and may make people with an overactive bladder more likely to leak.
The process is known as water intoxication with symptoms can include drowsiness and headaches. If the conditions worsens it can lead to brain damage, falling into a coma, and in very extreme cases even DEATH.
To avoid becoming dehydrated, it's best to drink plenty of fluids–as much as 2-3 cups per hour–unless you are exercising or outside in the heat, then you'll need to consume more. “An easy way to determine if you need to drink more water is to look at the color of your urine,” Dr. Dergan says.
Research shows that milk is one of the best beverages for hydration, even better than water or sports drinks. Researchers credit milk's natural electrolytes, carbohydrates, and protein for its effectiveness.
Water waste removed through urination
It generally takes your body 9 to 10 hours to produce 2 cups of urine.
As drinking too much water can disrupt your body's electrolyte balance and lead to hyponatremia, 3 liters (100 ounces) may be too much for some people.
As a general rule, you can use this simple calculation. Water (in litres) to drink a day = Your Weight (in Kg) multiplied by 0.033.
In general, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine suggest that each day women get a total of about 2.7 liters (L), or 11 cups, of fluid and men get about 3.7 L (16 cups). Not all of that fluid has to be water intake.
Water helps the kidneys remove wastes from your blood in the form of urine. Water also helps keep your blood vessels open so that blood can travel freely to your kidneys, and deliver essential nutrients to them. But if you become dehydrated, then it is more difficult for this delivery system to work.
5 litres of liquid is excessive and can lead to depletion of important minerals like potassium sodium, calcium and magnesium leading to electrolyte imbalances. Some people even develop a condition known as 'water intoxication'. So try and be moderate with your liquid intake.
Answer: One liter is equal to 4 glasses of water.