Too much water?
Did you know that it is possible to drink too much water?
Did you know that you can get "drunk" off of water?
What?! How?!
Well, that's not exactly what it is. There's a *very* rare thing that happens when you drink too much water too quickly. It gives you a feeling of intoxication or you may even experience the same symptoms as heat stroke and exhaustion! Sounds crazy, right? It is. This really only happens to those who drink liters upon liters of water in one sitting, so it's really not too easy to do. What's really going on is something called hyponatremia.
Hyponatremia is really talking about your sodium levels. When you drink too much water far too quickly your body is basically drowning out any sodium you might have. It's kind of the same concept of when you're bloated, that means that you're retaining too much sodium, so you drink lots of water to even it out. Except much, much more extreme. When there isn't enough sodium in your system to balance out the water your cells swell up. What happens when the cells in your brain swell from too much water? Bad, bad things. This condition can often be fatal if not treated immediately.
However, there's not much cause for concern. Like we said, you'll have to drink a LOT of water in a very short amount of time for this to happen. That being said; this exact condition is the reason that doctors say that babies should only be given milk or formula. It's hard for us to realize how much water we're feeding a baby that can't tell us when it's had enough. Their bodies are just too small and their kidneys just aren't capable of handling much water just yet.
So, if you're worried about drinking too much water after your workout, don't stress too much. Chances are that you're not drinking nearly enough to cause something like this! Besides, most people are leaning more towards to side of being slightly dehydrated most days anyway. You could use another drink or two of some delicious H2O!
Did you know that you can get "drunk" off of water?
What?! How?!
Well, that's not exactly what it is. There's a *very* rare thing that happens when you drink too much water too quickly. It gives you a feeling of intoxication or you may even experience the same symptoms as heat stroke and exhaustion! Sounds crazy, right? It is. This really only happens to those who drink liters upon liters of water in one sitting, so it's really not too easy to do. What's really going on is something called hyponatremia.
Hyponatremia is really talking about your sodium levels. When you drink too much water far too quickly your body is basically drowning out any sodium you might have. It's kind of the same concept of when you're bloated, that means that you're retaining too much sodium, so you drink lots of water to even it out. Except much, much more extreme. When there isn't enough sodium in your system to balance out the water your cells swell up. What happens when the cells in your brain swell from too much water? Bad, bad things. This condition can often be fatal if not treated immediately.
However, there's not much cause for concern. Like we said, you'll have to drink a LOT of water in a very short amount of time for this to happen. That being said; this exact condition is the reason that doctors say that babies should only be given milk or formula. It's hard for us to realize how much water we're feeding a baby that can't tell us when it's had enough. Their bodies are just too small and their kidneys just aren't capable of handling much water just yet.
So, if you're worried about drinking too much water after your workout, don't stress too much. Chances are that you're not drinking nearly enough to cause something like this! Besides, most people are leaning more towards to side of being slightly dehydrated most days anyway. You could use another drink or two of some delicious H2O!
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