You would have to try VERY hard to drink too much water. Every one of all ages can benefit from staying hydrated.
"Staying hydrated" means to match the body's needs, not more, not less. Like with all other silly hypes (antioxidants, electrolytes, vitamin supplements, etc. etc.), too much is potentially harmful. It is a hype, because it's so easy to say "stay hydrated" and it seems like an uncontroversial thing, but it can be just as harmful as dehydration. In fact, among e.g. long distance runners, severe complications from overhydration are more common than severe complications from dehydration.
Drinking too much water is harmful. Drinking too little water is harmful. You want a proper hydration balance, and in most circumstances—with several exceptions—this is well regulated by thirst. All of this is well documented and none of this is should be controversial at all.
Granted the pressures for dehydration are a lot more common (hiking with too little water, running competitions, maybe little access to water in a hot climate, etc). Once one has ample access to water, I doubt there is much pressure to keep drinking to over-hydration.
With all that said: Yes, dehydration is probably more common. My point is simply that the goal is a good balance, not to drink excessively to "stay hydrated".
I’m in the Rocky Mtns, so it’s pretty dry up here with lots of unprepared people (maybe confirmation bias in my end).
> People's response to dehydration or over-hydration is not uniform.
Of course not, and I have hopefully stated clearly enough and frequently enough that I'm talking about a general rule to which there are many exceptions both ways.
This is not the case. It is very rare that I have ever felt thirsty. It has been an issue my entire life, often with seriously negative outcomes. Every day I have to make a conscious effort to ensure I drink enough water. I can never rely on how I feel; I always have to depend on what intake I have measured.
Not OP but as someone who would regularly consume way too much water to the point it was causing me adverse effects, this is my experience:
When I was properly hydrated I'd still be mildly thirsty.
When I have been overhydrated I'd keep getting thirstier.
And when I was getting close to being on the dehydrated side I'd get mildly thirsty.
But when I would actually start getting dehydrated, the thirst stopped.
It sounds backwards and weird but it's a thing and it's really quite problematic (and it's not that uncommon). I think it technically falls under the name polydipsia but it's more a symptom of any number of different biological quirks or disorders than anything specific in of itself.
When it comes to how one notices they are dehydrated when they aren't feeling thirsty, you tend to get good at picking up on the signs (skin turgor test, headaches, dry mouth, etc) and you also tend to be pretty cognizant of how much water you consume in a day which makes it pretty easy to self correct early.
I drink water because I want to? It’s not exactly being thirsty (I sometimes get thirsty when I’m out and about for extended periods; that feels different). It’s just wanting to drink water, and water being there. Should I be worried? Should I be limiting myself to only drinking water when I feel truly thirty?
I’m also an amateur marathon runner, and I reckon I probably drink much less liquid while running a marathon than in a comparable 3.5 hour block working (although I drink a lot of water and sports drink after finishing).
Edit: In case it matters, I don’t drink water because I’ve bought into “stay hydrated” hype. I’m well aware that I drink more than enough water to meet my body’s needs. I just like it.
Bad habit, sorry. I'm probably a lot more humble and open to being wrong than I seem, promise.
What I'm trying to say is that in most circumstances, with several notable exceptions, the body will self regulate these things perfectly fine, and most people in most cases don't have to actively "stay hydrated". Exceptions apply. Drinking ±6 liters throughout a work day sounds a lot to me, but I am in no way qualified to judge, authoritative tone or not :)
I do not know how big the margins are. What I do know is that two of my friends have needed medical attention (routine stuff) for urinary tract issues due to prolonged excessive water consumption, because they were trying to "stay hydrated". There's also been several medical professionals, i.e. doctors and researchers, warning about "stay hydrated" campaigns run by bottled water companies in my country. I don't know if it's as big a thing in other countries.
English is my third language, so sorry if the things I write are unclear.
Anyway, thanks for engaging!
Also your source is an analysis of articles on water drinking advice, not a medical study.
Sorry to intrude with nothing more to contribute.
> Drinking too much water is harmful. Drinking too little water is harmful
Saying that too much something is harmful seems like an uncontroversial thing to say too. But you need to back it up with a source.
To the point of death? Sure. To the point of reduced functionality? I disagree. It's quite easy for me to feel thirsty, reach for my water bottle, realize it's empty, say ill get more water in a little bit, and then not get more water. Repeat 5 or so times and then a few hours go by and I start getting a headache.
My point is that in normal circumstances you don't have to drink unless you're feeling thirsty. Ignoring thirst causes some discomfort, because you're thirsty, will get headaches, cramps and so on and those symptoms will probably prompt you to drink. On the other hand, drinking too much generally doesn't lead to that much discomfort (unless you're drinking way too much), but will still be linked with various health risks.
...which is one of the easiest body signals to unconsciously ignore once your mind gets somewhat focused on anything, or to confuse with hunger.
I'd love if someone has a source, but I distinctly remember that a significant proportion of adults are constantly slightly dehydrated. Ironically, that might have been improved in recent times due to the Stanley cup (and various other water bottle) fads. It won't kill you, but it will cause inhibited cognition, and an increased risk of kidney stones.
Hydration is good. Extra electrolytes and water will be peed out.
On what do you base this claim? I think it's badly overstated. I'd say instead that it depends on circumstance. Seated in an air-conditioned office, you might be right. But if you are doing endurance athletics in a hot desert environment, it can be both easy and dangerous to drink too much plain water: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/the-dangers-of-hyponatrem...
> Hyponatremia occurs in a substantial fraction of nonelite marathon runners and can be severe.
> As marathon running has surged in popularity during the past quarter-century, reports have emerged of serious illness and death from hyponatremia, as in the case of a 28-year-old woman who died after the 2002 Boston Marathon.
> Participants in the 2002 Boston Marathon were recruited … 488 runners (64 percent) provided a usable blood sample at the finish line. Thirteen percent had hyponatremia (a serum sodium concentration of 135 mmol per liter or less); 0.6 percent had critical hyponatremia (120 mmol per liter or less).
[1]: Hyponatremia among Runners in the Boston Marathon. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa043901
However, a 6-year study reported that exercise-associated hyponatremia, dehydration, and heat exhaustion occurred at nearly the same rate, prompting re-examination of emergency protocols. Most exercise-associated hyponatremia cases at the Grand Canyon occur among summer hikers to the inner Canyon and are often misdiagnosed as exertional heat illness due to overlapping signs and symptoms.
https://journals.lww.com/cjasn/fulltext/2024/05000/exercise_...
Hyponatremia is especially dangerous because a common response is to drink even more water, which makes the condition even worse. The National Park Service changed all their hiking advice to explicitly recommend "salty snacks" and "sports drinks".
I notice very few effects of "under-drinking". So yeah, not everyone has the same needs.
On the flip side, I was working outdoors in the sun all day today, and probably ended up drinking about 2 gallons of water without needing to pee much. So not everyone has the same needs even on a day to day basis.
I’ve also lived extensively over 9,000ft in altitude. Are we getting into a height pissing contest? If so, why?
Just drink water. Fucksakes.