Does extra water drinking dilute your salt levels or...?
January 24, 2022 11:02 PM Subscribe
I was talking to a friend who has been very hydrated, drinking about 90 to 110 oz a day. They said more hydration causes them to crave more salt. I thought this sounded weird because I had heard that dehydration can also cause this craving. Friend thinks it may have something to do with the extra water diluting and thus lowering their salt levels. Is there something to that? If so, what is happening with dehydration?
To follow on, we had another random question. Let's say moderated water levels cause a craving of salt (I'm not sure this is true, correct me if wrong). Is there some equivalent substance, where different levels of that substance are known to cause people to crave other substances, like sweets? Really curious if this is already known to medical folks, like "oh yeah, if your X intake levels are off, you will crave sweets that day for sure". Thanks for any info, I know this is probably a really basic set of questions but it was an interesting discussion.
To follow on, we had another random question. Let's say moderated water levels cause a craving of salt (I'm not sure this is true, correct me if wrong). Is there some equivalent substance, where different levels of that substance are known to cause people to crave other substances, like sweets? Really curious if this is already known to medical folks, like "oh yeah, if your X intake levels are off, you will crave sweets that day for sure". Thanks for any info, I know this is probably a really basic set of questions but it was an interesting discussion.
yes, it’s the body self-regulating salt and water balance. Not necessarily pathological, respect homeostasis!
posted by chiquitita at 12:10 AM on January 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by chiquitita at 12:10 AM on January 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
It is hard to answer the question of how much water does one have to drink to get hyponatremia because it depends on several individual factors. How well you are hydrated, how well your kidneys are working etc but by and large your body will manage sodium levels by reabsorbing it in your kidneys but there is a limit to how effective that process can be and obviously, your kidneys can't make sodium your body doesn't have. At that point homeostasis will break down and you will start to have hyponatremia (not enough sodium in your body: sodium levels fall below 135 millimoles per liter (mmol/l)).
What happens when you have hyponatremia/water intoxication
Starts with:
headaches
nausea
vomiting
Can go to:
drowsiness
muscle weakness or cramping
double vision
confusion
difficulty breathing
And finally:
A buildup of fluid in the brain is called cerebral edema. This can affect the brain stem and cause central nervous system dysfunction.
In severe cases, water intoxication can cause seizures, brain damage, a coma, and even death.
posted by london302 at 1:14 AM on January 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
What happens when you have hyponatremia/water intoxication
Starts with:
headaches
nausea
vomiting
Can go to:
drowsiness
muscle weakness or cramping
double vision
confusion
difficulty breathing
And finally:
A buildup of fluid in the brain is called cerebral edema. This can affect the brain stem and cause central nervous system dysfunction.
In severe cases, water intoxication can cause seizures, brain damage, a coma, and even death.
posted by london302 at 1:14 AM on January 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is why some people drink Gatorade and similar products: because it gives you water, but also gives you the salts and other electrolytes to keep that aspect of your body chemistry balanced.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 5:31 AM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Winnie the Proust at 5:31 AM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Hyponatremia – Low Sodium Caused by Too Much Water
The consumption of diet soda may be associated with food cravings.
posted by oceano at 5:33 AM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
The consumption of diet soda may be associated with food cravings.
posted by oceano at 5:33 AM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Hello I drink approximately 2.5 gallons of (mostly) water a day. I have for years, this is just normal for me. (I've occasionally measured, a few times throughout my adulthood, and it's always near bang on 2.5 gals.) If I only drank the "recommended" 8 glasses or whatever of water most people struggle to get themselves through in a day, I would shrivel up like a lil raisin.
I am also hyponatremic, or can easily become so. I'm on a high dose of a diuretic to control symptoms of a neurological condition and thin my CSF, so I'm always thirsty and I always have to pee. Whatever. I take a (prescribed) potassium supplement to make sure I don't Terri Schiavo myself.
Several years ago at a physical my doctor mentioned I had slightly low sodium levels and nearly fell off his stool when I told him how much water I drink. He suggested I drink less water. I said well can't I just eat more salt? And he said yeah that would work. So I salt up my food pretty heavy and keep drinking what I drink, and my electrolyte levels have been ok ever since. (I've always had low blood pressure, but it went from being just above diagnosably low blood pressure to now on the lower end of a healthy blood pressure range.)
I can absolutely tell when I need salt. It starts by feeling just a little indescribably shitty. Like, just a little wrong. A bit headachey up in my forehead, a bit tired, my eyes kinda float over what I'm reading. But I'm good enough at my own body to notice that pretty early now before it even gets close to being a dangerous situation. Whenever I finish a jar of pickles I keep the juice, typically a few sips of pickle juice will set me right. I'm also not much of a chip eater but keep an emergency bag of chips for the same reason. Usually only happens if something has interrupted my regular schedule of eating.
To your question, rather than sweets, I think an equivalent craving might be fats. If you've gone on a diet or something and cut out fatty foods, you will be hungry ALL THE TIME, even if you're constantly eating throughout the day. There are questions like this here on Ask all the time (off the top of my head), people write down how much they're eating and can't figure out why they're always hungry, but it's lots of veg and lean protein. There are healthy fats and your body will scream for them if you're not getting them. (And because of how much corn sugar is supplemented into our American diets, we're used to interpreting the fat crave as a sweets crave.)
posted by phunniemee at 7:39 AM on January 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
I am also hyponatremic, or can easily become so. I'm on a high dose of a diuretic to control symptoms of a neurological condition and thin my CSF, so I'm always thirsty and I always have to pee. Whatever. I take a (prescribed) potassium supplement to make sure I don't Terri Schiavo myself.
Several years ago at a physical my doctor mentioned I had slightly low sodium levels and nearly fell off his stool when I told him how much water I drink. He suggested I drink less water. I said well can't I just eat more salt? And he said yeah that would work. So I salt up my food pretty heavy and keep drinking what I drink, and my electrolyte levels have been ok ever since. (I've always had low blood pressure, but it went from being just above diagnosably low blood pressure to now on the lower end of a healthy blood pressure range.)
I can absolutely tell when I need salt. It starts by feeling just a little indescribably shitty. Like, just a little wrong. A bit headachey up in my forehead, a bit tired, my eyes kinda float over what I'm reading. But I'm good enough at my own body to notice that pretty early now before it even gets close to being a dangerous situation. Whenever I finish a jar of pickles I keep the juice, typically a few sips of pickle juice will set me right. I'm also not much of a chip eater but keep an emergency bag of chips for the same reason. Usually only happens if something has interrupted my regular schedule of eating.
To your question, rather than sweets, I think an equivalent craving might be fats. If you've gone on a diet or something and cut out fatty foods, you will be hungry ALL THE TIME, even if you're constantly eating throughout the day. There are questions like this here on Ask all the time (off the top of my head), people write down how much they're eating and can't figure out why they're always hungry, but it's lots of veg and lean protein. There are healthy fats and your body will scream for them if you're not getting them. (And because of how much corn sugar is supplemented into our American diets, we're used to interpreting the fat crave as a sweets crave.)
posted by phunniemee at 7:39 AM on January 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Go easy on your kidneys. The pair of them weigh 250g / 9 oz but they consume 10% of the available energy. Much of this is actively shedding the sodium with which we snow our food. Contrast to the brain whc weighs 1300g / 3 lb and uses 20% of the energy.
posted by BobTheScientist at 8:38 AM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by BobTheScientist at 8:38 AM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
For what it's worth, I had a really hard time regulating my body temperature on long bike rides for ages even though I was drinking a lot of water, and what made all the difference was putting one of those electrolyte tabs in my water bottles. I didn't need to drink nearly as much water but was more hydrated and my body regulated itself itself. Before I was peeing it all out and nearly heatstroking.
posted by bluedaisy at 1:27 PM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by bluedaisy at 1:27 PM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
more hydration causes them to crave more salt
It's not dilution, it's osmosis. Over hydration results in salt loss as osmosis pulls salt from your body and you pee it out. In extremis over hydration can kill.
what is happening with dehydration
If you're perspiring heavily, you will be losing salt as well as fluids, and you can become dehydrated and low in salt.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 6:58 PM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
It's not dilution, it's osmosis. Over hydration results in salt loss as osmosis pulls salt from your body and you pee it out. In extremis over hydration can kill.
what is happening with dehydration
If you're perspiring heavily, you will be losing salt as well as fluids, and you can become dehydrated and low in salt.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 6:58 PM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for these really interesting responses!
posted by circular at 11:21 AM on January 26, 2022
posted by circular at 11:21 AM on January 26, 2022
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