4.5 L water too much?

[deborah555]

Hi all,

I (m27) want to finally have abs/a sixpack so i hired a personal trainer and he made me a meal plan that looks quite good and thoughtful. One thing caught me off guard as i should drink 4.5 L water per day and i heard/read that drinking too much water (starting from 3L) is not healthy. Is that true? Are here any experts who could take my doubts?

I’m very thankful for your answers in advance.

 

[dinafrancis]

@deborah555 I regularly drink around 3L a day, more if I'm exercising. The only thing I drink is water though. I use to be someone who hardly drank and since drinking more, it's made a huge difference for me. However, I first made it a goal to try and drink 2L a day first and raised it from there.

But just do the pee check. If your pee is mostly clear, just a faint yellow tint. You're good. And be sure you're getting a good diet in so that you are replenishing your electrolytes by your food. You don't need a drink like Gatorade unless you're vigorously exercising for an extended amount of time and are sweating a ton (ie, athletes)

 

[deborah555]

@dinafrancis Thank you for your reply! I really appreciate your help.

 

[ruyifa]

@deborah555 In terms of too much being unhealthy, at some point basically the balance of salt gets thrown off if you're drinking water faster than you can pee it out, and you end up with water intoxication. For a healthy adult it's hard to get to that point without forcing yourself to chug a large quantity at once or while competing in an endurance event like a marathon. I don't think that's an amount that would cause problems other than excessive urination if spread throughout the day but could be problematic if you tried to drink it all in a couple hours.

That being said, 4.5L is a lot, and there's not really any scientific basis for any fixed target like that (as opposed to looking at other signs of hydration) as optimal hydration is going to vary a lot by how much water you're losing due to different weather conditions etc. Much more common is advice to drink 2L per day, but even that doesn't have a lot of basis to it.

 

[soniyadjs]

@deborah555 I drink around 5l of daily so I don't think so. The amount of water you drink depends on the person

 

[northernwarrior]

@deborah555 My doctor told me I was drinking too much water when I discussed this with him and I was drinking about 3.5L a day at the time. Sometimes my urine was nearly clear, which is what he told me to avoid. He said to always do the pee test and keep it a pale yellow. If it’s a darker yellow, drink more. If it’s nearly clear, drink less.

 

[hgfdfvnjjjjjjjjggff]

@deborah555 I drink 2.9 L water. I vaguely remember an explanation of Noel Deyzel. Your total body weight decided by 10 and x 325ml. For example: 90kg : 10 = 9. 9 x 325 = 2.9 L.

Edit: I can't find his video about it. I'll post it when I find it.

 

[gnandstein]

@deborah555 I've always worked on trying to get between 1 and 1.5 litres per 20 kg body weight. For me that's been north of 4 or five litres a day.

I've never read anything about over 3 L being dangerous. Do you have a recent source for that? I'm curious about the research there.

 

[maddiemarie]

@deborah555 /r/hydrohomies are the experts

 

[marlenedean]

@deborah555 Just over a gallon. That's a good amount of water. My dad relayed to me what he heard at a plasma donation center and it's that you should drink half your bodyweight in ounces, of water, per day.

 

[dawn16]

@marlenedean Hey man I’ve been shooting for a gallon a day as well but how do you control your urination? I go every 15 minutes which is definitely interfering with my work. Does it go away over time or do you put something in your water?

 

[marlenedean]

@dawn16 It goes away over time. You also learn when to pee, so that it doesn't interfere. Pee before work, during break, and before you leave. I started with only drinking about half a gallon per day and I had to pee so much. It's been ~2 years since I did that and I'm drinking a gallon a day with semi-regularity

 

[dawn16]

@marlenedean Alright cool thanks! I found that if I squeeze some MIO in my 32oz water it’s bearable and I don’t go so often. I’ll keep at it but start small

 

[lee7953]

@deborah555 Healthy kidneys can handle about 1L per hour. But while actively working out, the kidneys can't handle as much. I'd really worry about Water Intoxication. Be very careful about drinking it throughout the day. 4.5L a day probably won't hurt you, but the probably in that sentence isn't as strong as I'd feel comfortable with.

 

[nick_21]

@deborah555 Just drink when you are thirsty and/or when yo want to drink something.

 

[harlonbc]

@deborah555 I've been told 1/2 oz to 1oz per pound of bodyweight is a good range. Ex a 200lb person would drink between 100-200oz each day, where you'd drink ~100-120 on days you're not working out and drink on the higher end (~150-200) when you are working out.

I find if you start the day first thing with a 8-12 oz and keep water nearby throughout the day you naturally drink a fair amount. But don't force it.

But also agreed with others that the pee test is a good double check.

 

[lee7953]

@harlonbc 1oz per pound puts you dangerously close to Water Intoxication, which can be fatal or cause long term damage to the kidneys.

 

[shannonrees1]

@harlonbc Holy shit this is bad/dangerous advice.

 

[cfitz]

@deborah555 I tried drinking at least 2 liters a day for a week. I ended up going to the bathroom way too often. I am happy at 1-2 liters/day, depending on how much I exercise.

 

[jeffwilly001]

@deborah555 4.5 liters is on the higher side of healthy. Presumably your personal trainer is advising it as a maximal limit to aim for (and ostensibly fail to achieve).

So long as you don't hold off from using the bathroom, there's no health risk from superfluous hydration in healthy adults. If you're consuming a high amount of water every day, then you'll also need to be sure you're managing your electrolyte intake as well.