Water overdose

Water Is Life, Most of the Time

All of us know that water is the mostimportant liquid for living creatures. Moreover, we know that most ofour body mass is made of water and, without it, we may only die.However, not everyone is aware that the other extreme can be veryharmful as well. Namely, drinking too much water may causeelectrolyte imbalances in our brain and other body parts, causingirreparable damage. Thus, even though we should always avoiddehydration by consuming adequate quantities of water, we should notoverdo it, as this may be fatal for our health.

Characteristics of Water Overdose

The effect of consuming too much wateris called water poisoning of water overdose. The most endangeredgroup, when it comes to water overdose, are those who do sportsprofessionally. People like marathon runners, sprinters or otherssports people tend to intake a lot of water fearing dehydration.During this process, however, they do not consider their amounts ofproduced sweat, their metabolism and overall, their optimalquantities of this liquid intake. Thereby, many marathon runnersdrink water as if they were running the same mileage sprinting.However, they run slower and thus burn less calories, thereforesweating less and spending less water in return. Thus, by drinkingmore than they should, they risk suffering from this condition. Forprevention, make sure you pay attention to the amount of sweat youare producing, compensating for your losses adequately. Also, bear inmind that you lose weight every time you run or do exercise. Measureyour body weight before starting your exercise session. If it is thesame, let alone higher after the session, you are definitely drinkingtoo much water and are most probably suffering from water poisoning.

Symptoms of Water Overdose

When suffering from this condition,some of our cells swell, causing increased pressure in our brain.This severe condition may lead to headaches, aggressiveness, moodswings and confusion, eventually escalating to nausea, twitching andmuscle cramps. The worst case scenarios involve decreased heart rateand blood pressure, resulting in brain damage, different seizuresand, if left untreated, death.

Avoidance and Possible Cures

Both best cure and best preventionmeasure is avoiding drinking too much water in the first place.Moderation is the key. Having this said, all who think about going ona water diet or any sort of activities involving excessive intake ofwater should think again, if they have learned anything from thisarticle. Take good care of your body, and it will serve you well. Thesame goes out for adequate water consumption.