Water intoxication

I've always been told the hydration is extremely importanmt, obviously when doing sports / training but also in every day life... you always hear how at least 2 litres should be taken in a day and I've taken to always having a bottle on me or around me and try to sip throughout the day or whenever I can. Well now I'm hearing that's rubbish and excessive water intake can lead to water intoxication. The boffins say sport aside you should not be drinking lots of water and that it is dangerous to have too much... they also say that it is hard to say what is classed as excessive and so best to drink when thirsty. Apparently people have had fallen ill from intoxication from having too many pints of beer as well!!
So is a there a rule of thumb or any guidelines? Do I stick to water during training and a recovery drink afterwards and maybe an additional litre throughout the day.

 

I think water intoxication happens at above 8 litres a day and you're not sweating a lot.

Thats a lot of water

 

Someone died doing the London Marathon because of this, I believe it's called Hyponatremia and it basically means that too much water flushes all the minerals etc out of your system (I think!).

 

You need to drink a hell of a lot of water before intoxication becomes an issue.
The usual problem scenario is depletion of electrolytes when you're working your nuts off in a hot environment, sweating buckets and necking loads of water.
Screech/Lucozade powder is your friend. Apart from being a refreshing and tasty beverage, its isotonic.

 

Yes thats what happens, the sodum and other vital stuff gets diluited to the point it can't get into the cells properly, the cells then begin to swell due to the fact that Osmosis can't take place properly ( it usually takes place when somthing moves from high to low constarations but if both are to high or to low obvously it can't take place.

Water Hyponatremia, is a common cause of death in babys whos feeds have been made up with to much water and amongst clubbers who take E as the drug rasies the body temputer as does the dancing that tends to go hand in hand with the dancing and being off their faces mean they can't judge how much water they have already taken on board. This is why clubs went through a stage of handing out free water, however once the risk of being sued was discovered many stopped

 

it can be a problem if you also cut down on salt intake, a lot of people are on 'low sodium' diets nowadays and so are at greater risk of this than others.

There was a piece in the papers recently about a lady who was put on a high water/low salt detox by a nutricianist and ended up with a stroke and brain damage.

As usual with food...everything in moderation. If you are going to the pisser every 30 minutes then you are drinking too much, if you go once a day then you aren't drinking enough.

S_R

 

Crippling cramp (and I mean everything from the waist down locked solid) was my warning that a water bottle every twenty minutes on a wet overcast day was way, way too much. For years they've said that thirst isn't a good indicator of need. Eh........it just is. Evolution being what it is that's what you would expect. In endurance events low levels of "dehydration" are associated with better performances and overhydration is associated with sodium depletion and cramp. Do a search on www.pponline.co.uk there's a good article.

 

i found from experience, when i do a run and dont drink before hand i do much better and beat my times. i drink after a run.

They say Coke is good at replacing electrolytes, (could be Coca Cola saying it mind ).

 

Coke-a-cola is very good to replace lost salts/minerals and the such like after a bout of deli belly, however it is only effective if it is flat.

Dr WW ( well give it another 3 years and it will be!!)

 

Soz, I had one too many wine spritzers

 

The other problem with E´s is that they affect the brain, including the bit that controls and regulates salt and mineral levels. The levels are dropping (fast due to the amount of water taken on) and the body can´t do anything (or doesn´t) to raise the level.

This is how Leah Betts(?) died by taking one E and about 8 litres of water.

2-3 litres a day (one of which is diarlyte) seems alright for me. And I run in the mid day too (not good I know). It´s 30 degrees here.

On top of about 60 litres of Tea.

 

The NBC manuals have detailed tables of how much water you need it a given environment and where it goes (piss, sweat etc). I am out now but the still serving members could look thing up.

Agreed with the salt bit, I got a nasty case of salt deficiency once by replacing too much sweat with plane water.