Should a person drink at least 8 glasses of water per day?
What are the disadvantages of drinking a lot of water?
What is the rate of drinking water according to weight?
The answer to these questions was the topic of the first episode of the "Doctor Information" program, which was launched today, Sunday, on Al Jazeera Seha pages on social networking sites.
Drink 8 glasses of water daily
The advice to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day can be found all over the popular press, according to a report in the BMJ.
But the truth is that there are no medical references that recommend drinking this amount of water. In fact, drinking excessive amounts of water can be dangerous, as it may lead to what is known as water poisoning, hyponatremia and death.
It is required that a person get an adequate amount of fluids, which are found in foods, vegetables, fruits, soup, juice, tea, coffee, and milk. According to the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the sufficient daily fluid intake is:
About 15.5 cups of fluid a day for men.
About 11.5 cups of fluid a day for women.
This fluid intake includes water, other beverages and foods, and about 20% of daily fluid intake usually comes from food and the remainder from beverages.
What is the benefit of drinking water?
Getting enough water every day is important to your health.
Drinking water can prevent dehydration, a condition that can cause unclear thinking, alter moods, cause a high body temperature, and lead to constipation and kidney stones, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Water does not contain calories, so it can also help manage body weight, and reduce calorie intake when replaced with drinks that contain calories, such as sweet tea or regular soda.
Water helps your body to:
Maintain a normal temperature.
lubrication of joints;
Protect the spinal cord and other delicate tissues.
Elimination of waste through urination, sweating and bowel movements.
Your body needs more water when you:
In hot climates.
More physically active.
Has a fever.
Has diarrhea or vomiting.
What are the disadvantages of drinking a lot of water?
When you drink a lot of water, you may suffer from water intoxication, or impaired brain function, according to a report in WebMD.
This happens when there is too much water in cells (including brain cells), which causes them to swell.
When cells in the brain swell, they cause pressure in the brain. This can cause things like confusion, drowsiness, and headaches. If that pressure increases, it can cause conditions like high blood pressure and a low heart rate.
Sodium is a critical element that helps maintain fluid balance inside and outside cells, and when its levels drop due to the presence of too much water in the body, fluid enters the cells.
The cells then swell, putting you at risk of having seizures, coma or even death.
Signs that you are drinking a lot of water
1- the color of your pee
One of the best ways to determine if you are drinking enough water is to monitor the color of your urine.
It usually ranges from pale yellow to tea color due to a combination of the pigment urochrome and the level of water in your body.
If your urine is often clear, this is a sure sign that you have been drinking a lot of water in a short period of time.
2- Going to the bathroom a lot 3- Nausea or vomiting
When you have too much water in the body, the kidneys cannot remove the extra fluid, and fluid collects in the body, leading to nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
4- headache
Excess water in the body causes salt levels in the body to drop and cells to swell.
This swelling leads to the growth of its size, and causes pressure on the brain, the symptoms of which appear in a throbbing headache that may lead to brain weakness and difficulty breathing.
5- Discoloration of the hands, feet and lips
When you have hyperhydrosis, you will notice some swelling or discoloration of your feet, hands and lips.
When the cells swell, the skin also swells.
6- Muscle weakness
When electrolyte levels drop due to drinking a lot of water, your body's balance goes down.
Low levels of electrolytes in the body can lead to muscle cramps and spasms.
7- Fatigue
Drinking a lot of water makes the kidneys work harder to remove the excess amount.
This triggers a hormonal reaction that makes you feel tense and tired.
If you can't get out of bed after drinking a lot of water, it's because your kidneys are overworking.
The rate of drinking water by weight
It depends on your health status, physical activity and temperature, but as a general rule, you can use this simple math:
The amount of water you need in liters per day = your weight (in kilograms) multiplied by 0.033.
For example, if you weigh 60 kg, you should drink about two liters of water every day.
At a weight of 90 kg, you will need about 3 liters of water.
(Al Jazeera Net)
About Doctor Info
And Dr. Maaloufah is a weekly digital program that sheds light on prevalent health myths, researches their source and corrects them, and presents the correct scientific information in a story format.
The "Doctor Information" program will be published on the various platforms of "Al Jazeera Health" on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Tik Tok.
The program comes within the framework of the interest of the digital sector in Al Jazeera Media Network in the specialized pages of Al Jazeera Net, as it launched several new platforms recently, including technology, culture and others.