Water is essential to your health. Without a sufficient amount of water intake your body becomes dehydrated, but can too much water be hazardous to one's health?
It is known low water intake can lead to dry or sticky mouth, low or no urine output, and severe conditions such as coma, equally high water intake can be just as fatal causing conditions such as hyponatremia.
Hyponatremia is an exercise-related, metabolic condition when there is not an adequate amount of sodium in the body's fluids. Sodium is essential for your body's cellular function. This condition is common among people with certain diseases and among athletes, such as marathon runners.
Excessive or low water intake and excessive or low sodium intake can disrupt hormonal reactions, which is mediated by an antidiuretic hormone. This hormonal reaction can lead to either retention of water or eliminating water by urinating. These reactions maintain normal levels of fluid and blood volume in the body.
If a person drinks too much water they may experience "water intake overload." This can decrease the volume of blood circulating. Also the body may experience edema, which is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the blood (swollen brain).
Additionally, blood pressure is essential to regulating oxygen delivery throughout the body. Oxygen is especially important to the brain, influencing the brain's decision-making process and cognitive thinking. One suffering from hyponatremia may experience irregular blood pressure and low oxygen levels, which can lead to hallucinations, decreased consciousness, confusion and possibly coma.
For those who exercise daily, being aware of the effective fluid and dietary intake prior to, and following, exercising is important. Though water consumption is influenced by several factors such as, exercise, environment and duration, it is recommended to drink according to thirst.
For every 15 to 20 minutes of exercise, the recommended water intake is between 150ml to 200ml.