Too much water?

October 12, 2007 6:01 PM

Am I harming my kidneys?

I drink about 70-80 ounces of water a day. Is this harmful to my kidneys to have to process so much liquid? I find myself in the bathroom about once every hour or two...

posted by rglass to health & fitness (23 comments total)

No, that's good for them. Human kidneys work best when they have lots and lots of liquid to process.

Keep doing what you're doing.
posted by Malor at 6:20 PM on October 12, 2007

That's barely half a gallon of water.

No, drinking half a gallon of water a day won't damage your kidneys. But if you are in the bathroom every hour or so from drinking two quarts a day you might want to consider whether there are other factors at work.

Is your bladder full when you use the bathroom or do you just feel like you have to go even though your bladder isn't full?
posted by Justinian at 6:20 PM on October 12, 2007

Are you drinking that amount of water because you have an insatiable thirst? If that's the case, you should talk to your doctor.
posted by Ruki at 6:23 PM on October 12, 2007

The only way you are going to get adverse health effects is from consuming so much water that you feel you're going to vomit, then continue to drink more.

You're essentially "floating" your system, and in this case you can damage your kidneys... it can also kill you by throwing your sodium levels out of whack and causing problems in the brain.

This is a situation you are unlikely to encounter unless you're engaging in a radio station Wee for a Wii contest, or you are a young recruit being tortured by a cruel DI in Boot Camp.
posted by Mr_Crazyhorse at 6:34 PM on October 12, 2007

That's a little less than 2 and a half liters. The official recommendation is 64 oz. of water a day, so you're barely exceeding it.

It's hard for a healthy adult person to get into trouble with water drinking less than 20 liters per day. More than that, though, can damage not only the kidneys, but the brain. You're nowhere near this danger zone, you could quadruple your intake and still be healthy. So don't worry.
posted by ikkyu2 at 6:36 PM on October 12, 2007

I drink at least 2 and a half liters a day everyday, and I feel fine, but then again I cycle 6 miles a day for a commute, and work out for an hour after work so YMMV.
posted by kanemano at 6:41 PM on October 12, 2007

That's only an extra glass or two more than what you're actually supposed to drink every day. I'd be rather shocked if such a small amount over the recommendation would cause any harm. It'd be as if you were eating six servings of fruits and vegetables rather than five - I don't think anyone would expect any damage out of that.
posted by mjgrady at 7:01 PM on October 12, 2007

My understanding (school me if I'm wrong) is that there is no hard and fast study that indicates exactly how much water we're supposed to drink per day -- I recall reading at least one article that traced the "8 glasses per day" "rule" to an old Army study that really didn't fit the general population.
posted by user92371 at 7:16 PM on October 12, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Someone told me I should be drinking 10 ounces of water per 20 pounds of body weight. For me that comes to about 90 oz of water a day, but I usually have about 80. (I refill my 20-oz bottle four times.) But then I have caffeine and alcohol every day, which are dehydrators. Right? Or not?
posted by booth at 7:38 PM on October 12, 2007

I use a mysterious and arcane method of calculating how much water to drink:

When I'm thirsty, I drink water. When I'm not thirsty, I don't drink water.

It seems to work.
posted by Justinian at 7:52 PM on October 12, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

That's a totally reasonable amount of water to drink in a day (unless you are exercising heavily or it is very hot, in which case I'd drink much more).
posted by ssg at 8:40 PM on October 12, 2007

You're most likely fine. Runners and such who deplete their minerals are in danger of water intoxication, which is why they drink Gatorade.
posted by IndigoRain at 8:57 PM on October 12, 2007

"When I'm thirsty, I drink water. When I'm not thirsty, I don't drink water. "

Thirst is a signal that you are dehydrated. It's better to drink before you are thirsty to stay optimally hydrated. If you're sedentary in comfortable temperatures, you can easily recover from dehydration, but if you are perspiring heavily the body's limited rate of absorption may keep you from recovering until conditions change.
posted by Manjusri at 10:11 PM on October 12, 2007

People who are exercising are supposed to drink over 120 ources or more at times. You're nowhere near any danger level.
posted by ceberon at 11:59 PM on October 12, 2007

If you're taking diuretics (caffeine, alcohol), you'll need more water but you'll also need more salts.

Most North American diets are already over-salty, drinking excess of "recommended" amounts of water should not be a problem. If you cramp up more than usual, then lay back on the water or drink some eledctrolyte-enriched liquids.

I drink between 2 to 4 liters of water a day. Listen to what your body wants, day-to-day.

I have a feeling that sugaary drinks (esp. with high fructose corn syrup [hfcs]) messes up fluid metabolism (along with many other things).
posted by porpoise at 1:17 AM on October 13, 2007

Snopes on the eight glasses of water per day myth.
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:28 AM on October 13, 2007

from snopes:

The best general advice (keeping in mind that there are always exceptions) is to rely upon your normal senses. If you feel thirsty, drink; if you don't feel thirsty, don't drink unless you want to.

HAH, I am vindicated at last.
posted by Justinian at 4:39 AM on October 13, 2007

I use a mysterious and arcane method of calculating how much water to drink:

When I'm thirsty, I drink water. When I'm not thirsty, I don't drink water.

It seems to work.

If you are thirsty your already partly dehydrated. Drinking properly before your thirsty is much more healthy.
posted by crewshell at 5:24 AM on October 13, 2007

Hyponatremia (a potentially lethal condition) occurs when one's blood plasma sodium concentration falls below 135 mmol/L. Unless you are an elderly dialysis patient, consuming 2.3L of water per day will not endanger you. That said, I think crewshell's comment makes a lot of sense.
posted by inoculatedcities at 10:14 AM on October 13, 2007

If you're taking diuretics (caffeine, alcohol), you'll need more water but you'll also need more salts.

Unless you're taking the caffeine in the form of pills, the water in caffeinated beverages more than makes up for the diuretic effects of the caffeine. Don't believe the bottled water industry hype.
posted by ch1x0r at 10:16 AM on October 13, 2007

If you are thirsty your already partly dehydrated. Drinking properly before your thirsty is much more healthy.

Ah, no. See the snopes link. This is a myth.
posted by Justinian at 2:56 PM on October 13, 2007

I see your (misunderstanding of) Snopes and raise you one Webster's. The Snopes article is debunking the "8 glasses per day" advice, not that thirst is caused by dehydration, or that avoiding dehydration is a good idea.

For the average sedentary person in a comfortable environment, getting a little dehydrated and then restoring balance is no big deal and thus Snopes "general advice" is adequate. But their use of the word "best" is somewhat misleading because it implies that someone striving for optimum hydration would be well-advised to follow this strategy, which is false.
posted by Manjusri at 6:41 PM on October 13, 2007

An excellent article on staying optimally hydrated oriented toward pilots.
posted by Manjusri at 6:56 PM on October 13, 2007