Is drinking too much water dangerous?

HOW COMMON IS OVERHYDRATION? That’s the good news: It’s extremely uncommon.  “The possibility of developing a seizure or a major side effect of drinking too much is extremely rare,” Kavouras

says. “Your body can respond to it.” To become overhydrated to the point of developing hyponatremia, you would have to not only drink double the recommended amount of fluids, but you would

need to do so quickly, Kavouras says. “It doesn’t happen easily,” he says. Case in point: Overhydration is often seen in endurance athletes, like marathoners, because they tend to consume

large quantities of water during extended physical activities without adequately replacing lost electrolytes like sodium through sweat. “They’re drinking above and beyond what they’re

sweating out, putting them at high risk of developing hyponatremia,” Kavouras says. WARNING SIGNS OF HYPONATREMIA Symptoms can include: * Muscle cramps or weakness * Nausea and vomiting * A

feeling of low energy * Headache * Mental status changes, including confusion * Seizures _Source: Cleveland Clinic_ A study looking at Boston Marathon runners, published in _The New England

Journal of Medicine_, found that a substantial number of runners had abnormally low serum sodium concentrations at the end of the race. The culprit? Overhydrating.    It’s easy to forget

that sodium is an essential nutrient that helps to maintain the balance of fluids inside and outside of cells. When sodium levels drop due to excessive water consumption, fluids travel from

the outside to the inside of cells, causing them to swell. “Sodium has gotten a bad name because most people consume way more sodium than is necessary,” Kavouras says. On average, Americans

eat more than 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day, the American Heart Association says, which is more than double the recommended 1,500 mg per day. “It’s a very common perception that

low-sodium is a healthy diet, but if you are physically active and you lose more sodium via sweating — and in combination with that drink a massive amount of plain water — then that

combination could create a mild sodium deficiency,” Kavouras says.