Lately I have read a few news articles of people who have died from drinking too much water. The numbers they seem to be taking seem to differ quite drastically and I suppose it all depends on the individuals kidneys. I read about one person who died from drinking 2 gallons of water in a short space of time, and another person who died from just drinking 3 litres in 3 hours. I think its a bit silly that our bodies seem to react this way to such a healthy drink yet give us no warning that this is too much.

I drink alot of water aday as I am sure alot of other people do, I have never felt ill (though I couldn't give you an exact number of how many 500ml bottles I intake a day) nor have I ever had any problems other then just going toilet alot.

So my question is, how easy is it really to drink too much? I mean 3 litres in 3 hours doesn't seem like an awful lot (thats just 6 500ml bottles) but apparently it is and it causes your brain to swell and you eventually collapse and die. So what are your thoughts?

I can drink 1.5 liters of water in 9 seconds. Just a thing I used to do to make people go "wtf!".

I later learned (from someone here on the forums actually) that I could drown and die. So I stopped doing it.

I think it's the perspiration of minerals that cause death. 'sport drinks' contain these, so runners don't have to worry about so called 'water toxicity'

If your stomach isn't warning you after drinking so much, then something else is wrong with you too. I don't find this information surprising at all. Too much of anything can kill you, even if it's "healthy".

Just give your body what it needs. If you don't feel thirsty, you probably don't need much. People dying from drinking too much are either doing it on a dare, blatantly ignoring the painful warning signs, or have a medical condition preventing them from feeling those signs.

Dumbest way ever to die.

I had started to substitute my lunch with fruits, especially watermelons, apples and pears (all rich sources of water). After two weeks my stomach felt bloated and I stopped soon after.

I guess everything consumed in the right amount is healthy but anymore, and your treading dangerous territory,

I think drinking too much water is probably the least concern of most people.

Yeah, I heard that too. I drink almost 2 litres every morning, and even more throughout the day. I'm still alive though... for now.

Hmm that's an Alot I hadn't heard about till now. http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html. Alots aren't evil, they don't kill humans. It must be something else...

It could be high volumes of water in a short period of time!

I drink about 4-5L of water every day. You just need to space the intake appropriately.

Mother dearest thinks I'll die from the opposite of this ;p

Death from drinking too much water is due to sodium depletion and generally there are symptoms before it causes depletion to the point of death. Very low sodium causes terrible confusion and nausea and vomiting (further depleting sodium), irritability, cramps, seizures and loss of consciousness prior to death. Those who have died after drinking only a few liters of water were more than likely already over hydrated with an already low sodium prior to drinking that amount. It's not the first glass too many it's the end amount that will get you.

Most people don't ever drink that much or become that over hydrated. It's seen most often in psych patients who have an obsession with drinking water. It is sometimes seen in people with kidney dysfunction or adrenal problems. Another cause is heat stroke. (thus need for increased sodium when profusely sweating)

In all cases it is from severe over hydration and thus sodium loss. Electrolyte imbalance is not good and another example of electrolyte imbalance causing death is potassium depletion which is sometimes a result of taking diuretics without a potassium supplement or anorexia/starvation which depletes potassium. Depletion of sodium or potassium disrupt the sodium/potassium exchange in the heart which is the electrical conduction system that keeps our heart pumping. Disrupt that and you have life threatening arrhythmias.

That was...incredibly informative. I'm curious, though: Will an overabundance of sodium cause palpitations of the heart muscle as well? I have the occasional "thump" in my chest, particularly when I've taken in a good amount of salt. I know this is a bad place to ask such a question (I'll get it checked by a doctor eventually), but it would make sense if that were the case.

Edit: It could also be a problem with my body containing lots of excess energy, since I notice an increase in palpitations when I ingest caffeine. Eh, who knows?

Those "thumps" are scary sometimes..especially when I have several right behind each other(I've already seen a doctor). They occur usually when I'm under stress or angry.

Yes but normally in elderly or in psych patients again this happens. Anytime you have a palpitations you should have it checked out by a doctor though often it's isolated and hard to detect in a visit to the doctor unless it happens when you are there. Still...always best to have things like this checked out to be sure.

That said, one normally doesn't have to worry about such things if they just eat normally and drink enough water to stay hydrated. It is much more common to be dehydrated than over hydrated. Drink recommended amounts of water/fluid (2-3 liters per day) and don't eat spoonfuls of salt and there should be no worries. It's not something one needs to think about unless they are obsessive about it or have an underlying condition or it's very hot outside and one is sweating profusely.

A few years ago I remember hearing about several college kids who died from this. They substituted water for beer in some binging rituals so they wouldn't risk alcohol poisoning or other deleterious effects.

I think you can die from drinking over 100 glasses of water, you can also die from drinking to much coffee and from what I heard it's not a pretty way to go, actually it's real violent. The key word to drinking everything liquid is moderation.

One can die from drinking too much fluid and that would include water, coffee, tea, pop, lemonade...just liquid.

Coffee can also cause an overdose of caffeine which can be life threatening especially in those with heart disease, but it would be difficult to drink too much coffee for a normal person.

Most people don't drink enough water so I would hesitate to say water in moderation and lean more toward telling folks to drink the recommended amounts of water.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283

According to @UberFacts on Twitter it's 130 cups of coffee before you overdose on caffeine. Then again UberFacts isn't the most reliable of sources...

There is no way I can drink 13 cups in one day. Sometimes I drink 5 or 6.

Mine was trying to be clever. It didn't happen til after he left(how convenient!) >_> but luckily the scans picked it up.

Its only if you drink too much that your body can't handle

actually, the amount of caffeine one would need to ingest before dying of caffeine poisoning would require ~106 cups of coffee for someone my weight and size (5'7", and 165 lbs). Now, would you die of something else? Very likely. As you ingest caffeine, it will be speeding up your heart rate, and kick your kidneys into overdrive. But also because your kidneys are in overdrive, all that caffeine is also being kicked out of your system.

I mean honestly, I find this hard to do. Why are you drinking excessive amounts of water anyways? Were these people say, playing a sport or running a marathon? Probably not. It's more likely they are just binge drinking water, which is completely stupid in the first place.

The only time I could see normal people getting into trouble is if they are on the verge of heat stroke or playing a sport on day, ect. Obviously, those people might drink too much water, even though they should mix water and gatorade and probably some sort of fruit, and still drink just enough. Have you ever seen a pro athlete on the sidelines? Or marathon runners/bikers? They aren't downing tons of water, they are taking in small amounts just to replenish themselves. The key to playing sports is being hydrated the day before and the hours leading up to the game.

If you've got some huge obsession with drinking a lot water because you think you'll be more healthy, look and see what your parents drink, or your grandparents. I doubt you'll see them doing the 8 glasses a day ritual. Sure, it's a good thing to drink water, but don't overdo it.

This is why I stick to whiskey and beer.

130 cups of coffee!!! If a person can drink that much coffee and still be living they would be going Ludacris speed and be going to plaid.

I don't think it's wise to place a number on it. But I assure you I've pushed it to the limits and I have heart disease and am here to tell it.
Can't put a number on it. Like with the now popular caffeine drinks available, there are documented deaths contributed to both. Ones health status, underlying conditions and personal sensitivities to caffeine play a huge part in what is tolerable for each individual. So, while it may take a hundred cups for one, it might take only a couple or three cups for another to experience cardiac arrythemias from too much caffeine.

I don't plan to drink that much.