Aishwarya Iyer
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One of the best ways to treat yourself well this summer is by keeping yourself hydrated. Water helps in the normal body functioning as well as flushing out toxins from the body. However, experts now warn us that 'overhydration' or having excess water can be damaging to health too.
While it is advisable to have 8-10 glasses of water a day, having excessive water can be quite harmful. According to experts, you should drink water only when you are thirsty.
Here's how drinking excess water can be harmful to your health, according to Pooja Udeshi, consultant Sports nutritionist at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital:
1) Hyponatremia- It is a condition of having low sodium level in the blood that causes fatigue and nausea. If you feel excessively lethargic in spite of having large amounts of water, here's why. "If you drink a lot of water, it lowers the sodium and potassium content in your body, hence, making you nauseous."
Read: Think twice before drinking too much water
2) Having excess water overworks your cardiac muscles. "Drinking excessive water can load cardiac muscles and also, lower your blood pressure."
3) According to Udeshi, drinking excess water weakens the ability of the kidneys to flush out excess water load. Since the sodium content also gets diluted, this condition could weaken the functioning of kidneys.
4) Overhydration could cause swelling.The swelling could lead to edema.
Read: What is edema or water retention?
5) When you drink too much water, the levels of electrolyte might drop causing imbalance in the body. Low electrolyte could result in cramps or muscle spasms.
"The ideal way to know if you are dehydrated or are drinking enough water is by gauging the colour of urine," suggests Udeshi. She explains, " If your urine is brown or dark yellow, you are dehydrated. If the urine is pale yellow or clear, you need not worry since you are hydrated enough."
If you are outdoors or perform excessive outdoor activity, you would probably need to drink more water. But if you have a sedentary work life, having 2-3 litres of water is enough.
Read: Water intoxication can be equally harmful to you.
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