Nowadays, we hear people mention the 8×8 rule more and more often. We don’t only hear it on TV or in the hospital, but also in the park, at the supermarket or even at the gas station. Everyone seems to understand that drinking eight 8-ounce glasses per day is a necessity if you would like to stay healthy.
Do our bodies actually need that particular quantity of water everyday? Or it’s just an innovation whose goal is to make us more careful to what we drink?
Well, scientists have finally come to a steadier conclusion: It doesn’t matter how much water you consume every day, as long as your body is properly hydrated and you do not feel the need to drink more.
And after all, there is no reason to question this, most of us know that the human body is capable to make us aware of our deficiencies. Or don’t we begin shivering when we’re cold? It is the same with water, we feel thirsty every time our body needs additional liquids.
There is no point filling up our body with water if there’s no demand for it. There’s actually a large reason why we shouldn’t.
It’s a known fact that too little water may result in dehydration, and dehydration can easily kill you. But have you ever thought that a lot of water may also have the exact same effect?
In everyone’s body, there is a certain equilibrium between the electrolytes (the minerals from the blood along with the fluid that carries the electric charge) and water. Once this equilibrium is destroyed, that individual’s life might be in a real threat.
Physicians call this health issue”hyponatremia”, but it is widely called”water poisoning”. It might sound funny, but it’s a really severe condition which, if not treated properly and rapidly, can lead to renal failure and afterwards, death.
How can this happen? Well, once the quantity of water from our body gets considerably higher than normal, the number of electrolytes will get too low for this, therefore an imbalance between these 2 would be inevitable.
If these are not treated, they can rapidly lead to death.
Is it something we should try to avoid as much as we can?
Well, fortunately for us, it’s pretty hard to play tricks on a set of healthy kidneys, even by mistake.
This means that water intoxications are not as common in ordinary people as they are in professional athletes.
Well, the results of a 2005 study published in New England Journal of Medicine claim that almost 1/6 of the 2002 Boston Marathon participants have experienced a certain amount of hyponatremia.
Another study, published in the 2006 British Journal of Sports Magazine, states that physical exercises are often associated with hyponatremia due to the excessive water intake.
In that guide, Timothy Noakes and Benjamin Speedy, two sports medicine doctors, claim the biomedical community is in a process of admitting the risks of the over-hydration in professional athletes.
But these examples are not something we should worry about too much, as they are pretty rare instances in average people. The most important thing is to drink a suitable amount of water after physical exercise or effort, without exaggerating.
So, now you are probably wondering”Okay, too much water isn’t good at all?” , but can drinking a lot of water really kill you?
Yes, it may, in theory. But like I said before, it is not really the case to worry, because you couldn’t normally drink so much water that would cause water intoxication. Your body would show you clear signs and would make you stop.
However, be careful how much water you consume after a high effort and make sure that you don’t drink a higher quantity than you feel your body needs. Provided that you respect this, you’ll not ever have to ask yourself if drinking a lot of water can kill you. Go to Wildlife Removal Clermont FL for more info.