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What's the harm of drinking too much water? How much water is the best to drink in a day?

Water is the source of life, so in daily life, many people think that drinking more water is very good for human body. However, drinking too much water in a short period of time or improper methods of drinking water will bring unexpected harm to the body. How much water is the best to drink in a day?

All these show that we drink too much water

Under normal circumstances, the body's water metabolism is mainly regulated by the kidney. If people drink too much water quickly without water shortage, the electrolyte dominated by sodium in the body will be diluted, and the water will penetrate into the cell through the cell membrane, leading to cell edema, which will lead to 'water poisoning'. In particular, when the human body does not take in water for a long time or a large number of sweat loss of salt, suddenly add a large amount of water without timely supplement of salt, the salt in the blood will sharply reduce, more likely to cause 'water poisoning'.

When you drink too much water, brain cells respond first. When brain cells show edema, the pressure in the brain will increase, resulting in dizziness, brain swelling, headache, vomiting, fatigue, blurred vision, lethargy, slow breathing, slowing down the heart rate, and even coma, convulsion and even life-threatening when the situation is serious. In addition, when water poisoning occurs, there is too much water in the blood, and the concentration of sodium chloride in the blood drops, which will cause muscle pain and spasm.

Cao Zhendong, deputy chief physician of traditional Chinese Medicine Department of the Ninth People's Hospital of Shanghai, pointed out that drinking too much water will not only cause acute 'poisoning' symptoms, but also may become a 'dampness evil' harmful to health, damage human Yang and weaken human disease resistance.

Do you really need 8 glasses of water every day

If you drink too much water, you will worry about poisoning. If you drink too little water, it will be harmful to your health. How much water does a person need to drink in a day?

'eight glasses of water a day' seems to have become a popular idea since when. How much is the 8 cups of water? From 150 ml to 200 ml, 300 ml, even 500 ml can be 1 cup of water. Therefore, if only counting the number of cups, regardless of the specific amount of water, may lead to a large deviation.

According to the recommendation of Chinese dietary guidelines (2007 Edition), each person should take at least 1200 ml of water every day. 1200 ml is not an absolute value, and the amount of drinking water needed by each person needs to be adjusted appropriately according to their constitution, environment, climate, amount of exercise and nature of work. If you sweat less in winter, 1200 to 1500 ml per day is enough, but if you have more outdoor activities in summer, you should drink at least 2000 to 3000 ml. For those who suffer from urolithiasis, gout, hyperlipidemia, no matter what season, the amount of sweating, at least 2000 ml of water per day, which is conducive to the stability of the disease.

Cao Zhendong, deputy chief physician, pointed out that how much water should be drunk every day does not need to be too much entangled in how many cups, but should pay attention to "measuring out for entering" according to the time, the place and the person. It is necessary not to drink a large amount of water at one time, but to develop a small number of drinking habits.

For most people with normal heart and kidney function, the body can metabolize even if they drink a little more water. But for people with poor heart and kidney function, drinking more than 3000 ml of water per day will further increase the load of these organs.

Don't drink too fast or thirsty

Most of the human body is composed of water, which accounts for 60% to 70% of body weight, 80% of muscle water and 75% of brain water. Therefore, the normal life of human is inseparable from water.

In addition to the amount of water, how to drink water is also related to human health.

Drink warm but not ice

Cao Zhendong, deputy chief physician, pointed out that warm boiled water below 30 ℃ is the most healthy water, neither too stimulating gastrointestinal peristalsis, nor easy to cause vasoconstriction. In summer, if you often drink ice water, although you will feel cool when you drink it, but under the stimulation of ice water, patients with gastrointestinal diseases are prone to stomach pain, diarrhea and other symptoms, and the impact of ice water on the circulatory system is also very large, especially for patients with cardiovascular diseases, you should avoid drinking ice water. In addition, traditional Chinese medicine believes that 'Yang in spring and summer, Yin in autumn and winter'. In summer, Yang Qi floats on the surface of the body, but the body is cold. If you drink ice water, especially excessive ice water, it is easy to damage Yang Qi, and in winter, you will be prone to physical deficiency.

Slow or not

For healthy people, the kidney can discharge 800ml to 1000ml of water per hour under normal condition. If the kidney drinks too much water in a short period of time, the excess water will enter the cells in large quantities, resulting in hyponatremia and water poisoning. It should be noted that even after sweating a lot in the hot summer, you should also pay attention to drinking water slowly.

Active but not passive

When thirsty and upset or fatigue and headache occur, it means that human cells have begun to dehydrate, and then drinking water is "passive drinking water". Over time, the human body will be in a potential water shortage state for a long time, which is not conducive to normal metabolism. It is suggested to change "passive drinking water" to "active drinking water", and drink water before feeling thirsty.

Fruits and vegetables also replenish water

The water in fruits and vegetables such as cucumber, watermelon and tomato is easier to enter into cells than ordinary water. Fruits and vegetables are also rich in various antioxidants, minerals and important B vitamins, which are good for strengthening human immunity, preventing aging and resisting diseases.