Too Much of a Good Thing: Know the Symptoms of Overhydration
Making sure you drink plenty of water throughout the day should always be a top priority. Proper hydration is a good practice for a healthy lifestyle and can aid in digestion, peak performance, and sleep. However, it is possible that you can take your quest for hydration too far and intake more water than your body needs. Still, the symptoms of overhydration are easy to miss.
The purpose of drinking purified, clean drinking water from your Artesian bottleless water cooler is to stay at the top of your game. Your family or employees enjoy the cool, refreshing refills throughout the day, but overhydrating can have adverse effects. When people drink too much water, they wash away essential electrolytes needed to help bodily functions such as the liver and heart. The more water you drink, the more your system flushes itself. So, we’ve put together this guide to help you identify the symptoms of overhydration and how you can ensure you’re drinking just the right amount of a good thing.
What Does Proper Hydration Look Like?
While staying hydrated is essential for vital bodily functions such as blood pressure and muscle performance, not everyone knows exactly how much water they should be drinking. Fluid intake varies by age, sex, diet, activity level, and even weather. Even pregnancy can affect how much a woman should be drinking to stay “properly hydrated.”
Thankfully, we have resources like the Dietary Reference Intake from the Institute of Medicine that tells you just how much water your body needs every day. As a general rule of thumb, most experts will advise you to calculate half of your weight and drink that number in ounces. For an average 150-pound person, this equates to 75 ounces of water every day. Still, it can be tricky, which is why you need to be aware of the symptoms of overhydration.
What are the Symptoms of Overhydration?
Your body will always strive to reach homeostasis, and part of that process includes balancing the fluid-to-electrolytes ratio. When you overhydrate, you set yourself up for some serious health risks. Here are some of the signs and symptoms of overhydration that it may be time to cut back on the water intake for the day.
Clear Urine
In general, your urine should be a pale-yellow color. Urine that is too dark indicates dehydration, while clear fluids suggest that you’ve gone past peak hydration and may need to cut back. If your urine resembles water, take this as a symptom of overhydration and avoid intake for an hour or two.
Swollen Hands & Feet
It might seem strange to think about, but swollen hands and feet are a pretty good indicator that you’re drinking too much water throughout the day. The swelling in these areas is due to the electrolyte imbalance, which is a key symptom of overhydration. Too much water in your system flushes sodium from your blood, and the cells tend to retain more fluid than usual, leading to swelling of these appendages. If you notice this, then cut back on the water for a few hours to give your body time to balance itself.
Weak or Shaky Muscles
You drink water to prevent muscle cramps, right? Correct, but overhydration can also lead to spasms and cramps just as well. Again, this is because of the diluted sodium levels in your blood. You might start to notice that you feel shaky or weak without doing any physical exercise. Your muscles lack essential electrolytes, and you should try to steer clear of taking in any fluid to avoid more symptoms of overhydration. If your muscle weakness continues for several hours or even an entire day, it’s time to see your doctor.
Confusion or Disorientation
Overhydration or water toxicity can lead you to feel confused and disoriented as your body fights to rebalance your internal systems. Lowering the sodium concentration in your bloodstream by drinking too much water can cause your brain to swell, leaving you feeling disoriented or confused about simple tasks or where you are. Take note of your symptoms of overhydration and reach out to your doctor in case of an emergency so you can replenish the sodium lost right away.
Call Your Water Hydration Experts
Proper hydration is part of a well-balanced diet and lifestyle, but even the experts at Artesian know you can overdo it. Symptoms of overhydration are just as serious as those of dehydration, which is why our touch-free bottleless water coolers balance pH levels and add essential electrolytes back into the water. So, you never have to feel guilty about each refill when it’s coming from one of our coolers. To talk to an Artesian water expert today, call us at (248) 328-0825, or check out our locations page for an office nearest you.
