Is it possible to actually drink too much water? Giiiirl, you don’t know the half of it.
Before anyone comes at me and says “BUT WE ARE 90% WATER”, I will tell you to sit down and listen clearly:
Yes, that is true, BUT our cells do not require water to function, they need MINERALS. Over hydrating ourselves puts us at risk of unbalancing the required ratio we need between water and electrolytes (like magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium and chloride).
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When we drink too much water our cells tend to swell in order to compensate for the amount of water that is surrounding it in comparison to minerals. This stresses out the body which can lead to dizziness, nausea, headaches, weakness, low blood pressure, or in severe cases, hyponatremia.
The ratio between two particular minerals, sodium and potassium, also known as the “life-death ratio” is critically affected if one over hydrates. Over hydration can lead to frequent urination, which in turn will have the body increase stress hormones like aldosterone to RETAIN sodium and allow others like potassium, magnesium and even calcium to leave the body.
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Stress hormones, particularly cortisol, is a natural diuretic, thus if you find yourself peeing a lot (like more than 6-8 times a day) that could be a sign you’re running off of stress.
Why does the body do this? Because sodium in itself is supposed to help keep things from flowing out- which is why people tend to feel puffy, bloated or inflamed if they eat too much salt and not enough potassium.
By increasing one’s salt intake, making sure one eats adequate potassium rich foods (fruit and root veggies), drinking only when thirsty and considering a mineral supplement (like shilajit), you can suppress the elevation of aldosterone and decrease stress.
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So what of the “drink 8 cups a water a day” rule?
Well, IT DEPENDS on how active you are, if you consume a lot of water containing foods (like fruit or veggies), do you salt your food enough, what is the colour of your urine through out the day (should be light yellow NOT clear)?
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