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Comment by rambrrest | Hacker News Reader

Not too sure - an overload of water can actually be dangerous i think.

Jumping in here with relevant experience - because you're absolutely right.

In 8th grade (~16 years ago) my substitute biology teacher organised a "Water drinking competition" poised to elevate our understanding of stomach capacity, etc.

Two of us went to hospital, and ~5 (including myself) had to take multiple days off of school and recover.

It's very dangerous. He lost his job.

There was a lady who died from the same thing:

https://abcnews.com/GMA/jury-rules-radio-station-jennifer-st...

What was exactly his thinking here? Do biology teachers study biology because that’s kind of the first things you learn (saline concentration, kidney, etc…)

At least where I am, substitute teachers don't have to study anything in particular at all. You simply need to have completed X number of credit hours at an accredited institution, no actual degree or certificate is required and the coursework can be literally anything. As a newly-graduated history major I signed up to substitute teach out of desperation, and was sent everywhere from kindergarten to calculus.

Since no one is being quantitative, here's a medical source:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/water-intoxic...

> In some people, water intoxication symptoms can develop after drinking about a gallon (3 to 4 liters) of water over an hour or two.

> More than 32 ounces (about a liter) of water per hour is probably too much.

Only if it gets ridiculous. Like after a marathon drinking a gallon on the spot (and dying from it).

Drink 2-4lt a day and you'll be fine.

It’s actually dependent on your individual biology and the environment that you are in.

You need more hydration in hot climates than in cold damp ones. Also your activity influences how much hydration you need.

Ps I don’t think the article is about how much water you drink. (Edited to make the last sentence clearer)

Water is poisonous in that too much of it will disrupt electrolyte balance and can be fatal.

It's one of the risks with taking MDMA, there are some documented cases where people died from drinking too much water when rolling.

Everything is poisonous at high doses even oxygen.

"[E]ven oxygen" is funny because it is absurdly reactive and will explode when given the opportunity, and way back when it destroyed pretty much all life on earth except the early cyanobacteria that produced it.

Edit: And yeah, I didn't imply what you're responding to, I described the mechanism for water poisoning.

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