This week I've been struggling a bit with ensuring that I drink enough water during the day, and especially on the days that I exercise.
I've covered the whole drinking enough thing in
Are you feeling thirsty? before so you probably don't want to read the same old stuff again. But, and it's a serious but, if you are not drinking enough you are putting your body under enormous and uneccessary strain, and could be harming your health.
But this week in the news has been the sad story of a radio station in the US who held a water drinking competition, to win a Wii.
A female competitor who had taken part later said that her head was hurting and went home, shortly afterwards she was found dead, and the cause cited as water intoxication.
So why is too much water as bad for you as not enough? Well drinking too much water can cause your brain to swell, which stops it from regulating vital functions such as breathing.
Certain compounds in the body such as salt are regulated by the amount of water in the body. Too much water in the body means that the kidneys will not be able to work fast enough to remove it, which means the blood becomes more dilute, with low salt concentrations.
The water then moves from the dilute blood to cells and organs where there is less water, e.g. the brain. Adding water makes the brain swell, the brain is located in an area where the space is limited, the skull, and the pressure caused will create a headache. Further swelling will compress vital areas that regulate functions such as breathing. Without breathing you die.
So drinking several litres of water over a relatively short period of time could cause water intoxication. In the case of the woman in California who died, it is reported by witnesses that she may have drunk almost 7.5 litres without using the washroom facilities, as the purpose of the contest was to see how much water you could hold.
10 people from the radio station are reported to have been dismissed over this incident.
Experts say that under normal circumstances aiming to drink 1.5 litres of water a day is the correct level. However if the weather is hot, or dry, if you live at altitude, or you are exercising, then your water intake must be increased to take this into account.
So too much is as bad as too little. In the majority of people, drinking too much is just not going to happen because it's a real chore to drink that much water. However don't be put off from drinking water, and indeed increasing your water intake, especially when exercising etc.
Just don't be entering any competitions that encourage you to risk your irreplaceable life for something as cheap as a Wii.
