I picked up a new Bubba water bottle to use at my office because it’s pretty in an effort to increase my water intake. I had been in the habit of stealing a company soda (from the refrigerator bin marked “for clients only”) for an afternoon pick-me-up, but I’m pleased to say I haven’t done that once in 2024 since bringing in the Bubba! Although I feel like I’m getting up to go to the bathroom all the time, I have noticed the difference in how water actually satisfies thirst in a way other beverages simply do not. Plus I knew I had to increase my water consumption to justify my potato chip consumption. Remember when Brooke Shields had a seizure from being overhydrated and her doctor prescribed potato chips? Yeah, so I’m working at it from the other end. But drinking too much water is a serious thing, and here are some symptoms to look out for:
So how much water should you drink every day? Despite being told that we should drink eight glasses of water daily, there’s no “magic” number. There are, however, a number of factors that influence how much water you should take in: The NAM [National Academy of Medicine] shares that hydrated women average 91 ounces of total water and men average 125 ounces total, stemming from both hydrating foods and beverages.
“What is important to know is that your body’s water needs change based on your age, your lifestyle and your sex,” explains Dr. Neha Vyas, a family medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic. “Your body’s hydration needs may also change if you have a fever or an illness.”
When it comes to drinking water, research has found that thirst is a major sign of a deficit. Other common signs of dehydration can also be signs of overhydration, which can then lead to hyponatremia, causing low sodium levels due to dilution from extreme excess of fluids. It’s good to be generally aware of how much water you’re taking in throughout the day so you can get to the bottom of any sneaky symptoms.
“In general, the symptoms of dehydration are much more severe than overhydration,” notes Dr. Byas. “That being said, overhydration can be quite serious as sometimes your body cannot get rid of the extra fluid that is either generated or consumed.”
The earliest symptoms of drinking too much water include: frequent urination, nausea, bloating, vomiting, headache.
“Since these are very general and can occur in many illnesses, it is important to take a good history to determine whether the symptoms can be due to excess water consumption,” advises Dr. Vyas.
More serious symptoms that may develop include: confusion, irritability, drowsiness, muscle cramping, vision changes, blood pressure changes, seizures, difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness, coma.
Oh thank you Parade, I love having a new cause to blame my irritability on! And hunger is so overused, trotting out “I’m overhydrated!!” will be a nice change. Conversely, not drinking enough water is also a problem. As long as people are trampling over each other to spend $45 on a water bottle, they ought to be appropriately hydrated. Dr. Sotiria Everett, a Clinical Assistant Professor at Stony Brook Medicine told Salon.com that a simple way to start assessing your hydration, aside from thirst, is to check the color of your morning wee. And what color wee do we want to see? A lemonade-ish hue means good hydration (excluding pink lemonade), whereas darker tones like cider or apple juice signal you need to drink more water. It’s all very bathroom focused, isn’t it? While I may be visiting the little girls room all the time now, it’s worth it for those chips. And my health. But yeah, I’m motivated by the chips.
Photos credit: PNW Productions, Jopwell, Ricky Esquivel and Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels
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