Drinking too much water is bad for your health?

Question

Recently, my sister has been drinking a lot of water on a mission to clear up her unpredictable, slightly blemished teenage skin. She lives with me at the moment and she says she drinks about 10-11 glasses of water a day.

Well, my mum came to visit us the other day and she commented how nicely my sister's skin had improved- I told my mum it was because she'd been drinking about 11 glasses of water everyday. My mum was really shocked and said that drinking too much water is bad for your health!

Is this true? How many glasses of water should the average person drink everyday?

Also, my mum says it's dangerous to drink too much water because it flushes out something from your kidneys and the only thing to make it safer is to make sure you digest lots of sodium (salt) everyday- is this true?

I'd be interested to hear your opinions, thanks.

Answer 1

Generally drinking lots of water is good for you.  In theory it is possible to die from drinking too much water.  The amount of water you would have to drink is so large that it is nearly impossible to drink too much.

Answer 2

no way.  you can never drink too much water.  ever.  that is a fact, not an opinion.  an adult shoudl have eight 8oz glasses of water a day, at least!  i drink about two gallons.  at least.  should be purified though.  tap water isn't that good.

Answer 3

I've heard that it's VERY healthy to just/a lot of drink water. When I was younger I had a condition where I almost had to have a kidney transplant because I ingested too much sodium every day, so my mom had to keep it at some horrible low number, which is almost impossible to do, or i would have had to had a transplant. To this day, If I eat something that's loaded with sodium such as Cup-O-Noodles my ankles swell, I can't breathe, and my face gets flushed. It's not healthy for any one to have a lot of sodium though. I'm sure the body needs a little, but not "lots" like your Mom mentioned. Either way, a normal person is going to drink a lot of fluid throughout the day, and your sister is just making sure it's water, right? That can't be bad for her, especially since once-upon-a-time there was no such thing as soda and koolaid and coffee.

Answer 4

i think your sister is fine with the amount of water she drinks a day!

Answer 5

It would be very hard to drink too much water and 10-11 glasses a day is not too much.  Your sister should aim for 2 liters a day as a healthy amount.  When people drink too much, they drink gallons! She has a long way to go.

Answer 6

Drinking a lot of water is good for you. It's always good to stay hydrated. 10-11 glasses really isn't all that much.

Answer 7

They say you should drink 2 litres a day but more than that is perfectly normal. Just think in Iraq the soldiers drink like 7 litres of water per day because it is so hot.

Tap water maybe not so good for you but filtered water is fine and drink as much as you want although you will probably get bored in the end.

Answer 8

drinking too much water is realy... realyy good for humans!!!!

normally, people should drink 8 glasses a day!!! but it wouldnt hurt if her/she drank more!!!

once i have been drinking about 8 bottles(0.5L) a day!!

and at the end of the week i had six-packs!!

i stoped the water.. and now i have a belly!!!

drinking too much water will CLEAN your kidney except of flushing something out of them!!!

and too many salt will dry the water stored by your body!!

so what your sister is doing is realy healthy!!! dont worry

Answer 9

Most people should drink 64oz (half gallon) of water a day.  You don't say how much water is in a glass.  If your sister is drinking small glasses- she's just drinking a little more than what most people should be drinking.  For very few people, drinking excessive water can make the person lose their electrolytes.  You'll know if that is the case because you'll feel very tired, no energy.  It's a rare condition.  It's great that your sister is drinking that much water.  She should keep it up.  

Answer 10

Drinking water is good for you, however if you drink a lot of water and never replenish your electrolytes (salt and potassium), you can have health issues related to the low sodium level. However, if you sister is eating a healthy diet that will replenish the electrolytes she will be urinating out then she should be fine. You can tell when you have drank a healthy amount of water because your urine will be clear or almost clear. Every person is different when it comes to amounts, so just tell your sister to watch her urine and slow done on the water if it is clear.  

Answer 11

A person should drink eight cups of water daily ( 2 Liters),

drinking water has many benefits such:

-giving a clear complexion

-hydrating the body.

-clean the internal of the body, mainly the kidney.

-dilute fat cells

-large amounts of sodium is bad for the body( daily intake of sodium,1g) so water helps reduce it..... etc...

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! drinking too much, large amounts of water is very dangerous!!!!!!! Dnt worry your sister is drinking a fine amount of water, 11 cups is about 2.5 liters of water which is fine.

If u wanna know more about why drinking water in large amount is dangerous check out those sites:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6263...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/732643...

BTW, the best time to drink water is at the morning, which is before eating the breakfast. Hope i helped