Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

Cas_203 — Thu, 17 May 2007 00:05:26 GMT

I read Mercola all the time, as do most of you. And like you, I read from other sources. One of those is Dr. Young from phmiracleliving. (I am an avid believer that pH has everything to do with overall health. Conversely, Dr. Young is a vegetarian, which I do not believe in; it’s surely not for me, but he is certainly brilliant when you get past the ‘not eating meat’ recommendations.) So, after I read Mercola’s, I read Young’s. It starts like this:

5/13/07 Dear Readers,
Today, via email, Dr. Mercola sent out an article which appeared in a London newspaper entitled, “Too Much Water Can Kill Even A Fit 22-Year-Old.” The article stated that a 22-year-old London marathon runner, David Rogers, a fitness instructor who completed the race in less than four hours, collapsed after he crossed the finish line. He was rushed to the hospital where, sadly, he died. The article suggested that Rogers died as a result of hyponatremia, a lack of sodium in his body that can be caused by drinking too much water. This is partly true and mostly false. He was the ninth athlete in the 27-year history of the London marathon to die. Almost 60 of this year’s more than 36,000 runners ended up needing hospital treatment. Ambulance volunteers treated more than 5,000 runners, generally for heat exhaustion and dehydration. The article was correct when it stated that David Rogers collapsed and died from a lack of sodium (hyponatremia) but was dead wrong on the cause! Drinking too much water was not the cause of David’s exhaustion and dehydration. The cause of death was a lack of sodium (hyponatremia) due to systemic latent tissue acidosis, then compensated acidosis, and finally, decompensated acidosis.

Since I cannot post his entire letter, read it from his site, it answers all your questions: http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com/2007/05/did-too-much-water-kill-fit-22-year-old.html

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

moo_203 — Wed, 16 May 2007 23:43:33 GMT

is it true tho, that the elderly lose thier ability to feel thirsty ?

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

agnes mulloy — Mon, 14 May 2007 20:40:18 GMT

The other day I played a singles tennis match and felt fine after the match. About two hours later I felt awful, very tired, headache. I took a nap and still felt bad..no appetite. Tossed and turned all night. At 2:30am I woke up got a drink of water, felt really bad, tried to throw up, started to black out. Laid on the floor, stomach and face down, sweating, cold, breathing short rapid breaths after a minute or two or so (don't know how long) I regained conscientiousness and felt much better but very weak and little appetite. Next day went to dr. He said all vitals where normal and that I probably had a vagavolse response (don't know correct spelling) it's when the autonomic nervous system shuts down and you pass out. This never happened before and I'm in pretty good shape. I was wondering if I was just dehydrated or drank too much water because once I was home and didn't feel good I kept sipping water and was not getting better. Any thoughts?

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

DaveB_203 — Sat, 12 May 2007 22:56:20 GMT

I think it would be safe to say, that if you do have the need for extra water, in cases of exercising in hot summerlike weather, then by all means drink as much water as you need but make sure that there are minerals in it including some sodium and you shouldn't have any problems.

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

garya — Sat, 12 May 2007 21:55:29 GMT

3 years ago I almost died from drinking too much water. I was suffering from a bladder infection and in an effort to relieve the symptoms I drank lots of water [not sure how much, probably about 5l]
my sodium levels dropped to about 108 and my potassium levels dropped to about half of what is considered normal. As a result, I had seven seizures and ended up in intensive care on a ventilator. Fortunately by Gods grace I survived and now I'm really careful about drinking water and having enough salt.

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

Witch Doctor — Sat, 12 May 2007 20:52:14 GMT

On Deprogramming, or "Relearning How to Drink Water". See what people of our ilk have done? Not until we started recommending how much water people drink did people start dying! We attach fancy words ("hydration", instead of "go get a drink if your thirsty") and turn something that's as simple as peeing into a freakin' science. Of course, it takes two to kill: the control freak nutritionist and the gullible idiot who thinks they need a control freak nutritionist to tell them how to drink.. We're off the deep end people. We've met the enemy and it is us!

Deprogramming: While moving your eyes side-to-side, or tapping if you prefer, say "If I get thirsty, I will get a drink of water".

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

Witch Doctor — Sat, 12 May 2007 19:53:36 GMT

All things presented here considered, my conclusion is that drinking copious amounts of water daily is risky business. It does not make sense to say too much water can't hurt you, because clearly it can. Even if you take additional salt or electrolyte preparation - how do you know you covered all the bases? Took salt? Okay - sodium covered, which may be enough to prevent death. Took salt and potassium? okay, intracellular fluids are better off now. Took some electrolyte elixir? Okay, covered some more bases. But in the long run, day after day and year after year, how do you know you covered all the minerals and other nutrients that are washed out? And please don't tell me the body will keep what it needs and wash out toxins - we already know this is not true for sodium, which has elaborate sparing mechanisms in the body. So what other minerals, water-soluble vitamins, and else are ignored? How about the cations, i.e the negatively charged ions - sulfur, chloride, iodide,.. - are those being repleted or just washed out, too? I would not force-feed large amounts of water on a daily basis. It looks like a prescription for unhealth in the long run.

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

elfreem_203 — Sat, 12 May 2007 15:10:41 GMT

As a pharmacist and editor for a nationwide newsletter service who has written a number of articles on hydration, I'd like to clarify the article on "Too Much Water...". Actually the problem is not too much water, but not enough salt. This problem can be demonstrated more clearly in those stricken with Cholera. Basically, a large number of these people die of electrolyte imbalance and NOT from any infectious process - which is what athletes and soldiers die from.

Rehydration solutions typically contain water, electrolytes, and glucose or carbohydrates. These fourmulations are recommended for Cholera and have saved countless lives in third world contries where this disease is prevalent.

I've been in touch with the researchers that provided the scientific evidence for the use of rehydration solution for the treatment of Cholera and learned much. The same process of electrolyte imbalance occurs in athletes on a smaller scale of course and is triggered by a different mechanism.

For those interested, Gatorade is a form of rehydration solution specifically designed for athletes. I don't generally use this product because they changed the original formulation from glucose to fructose but there are others out there that I believe are more beneficial. I'd like to write more on this topic, but the max is only 2000 characters.

Elliot Freeman RPh

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

hikingchild — Sat, 12 May 2007 13:27:32 GMT

My late father was an ER doctor for many years. When I was grown he spoke of the cases that had troubled him the most from his years of crisis management. One expects an ER doctor to witness death on a daily basis. Unavoidable. But my father particularly grieved over the toddler who engaged in a water chugging contest with his older brother. The toddler "won" the contest, collapsed, and shortly thereafter, died in my father 's ER. "I couldn't get the electrolytes into him fast enough." Through the years my father thought weekly, if not daily, about the burden of guilt that the older brother, and indeed the toddler's parents, were going to bear into the future. My father wished that hyponatremia were a more widely known condition.

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

healthnutdoug — Sat, 12 May 2007 12:59:14 GMT

The headline for the article should be changed from "too much water can kill even a fit 22 year-old" to "too little salt can kill even a fit 22 year-old".    It is not about the water it is the lack of salt in the diet that killed the 22 year-old.   You cannot drink too much water as long as you drink the salt with it.

The headline is a deception because it makes people think drinking lots of water is bad for you and nothing is further from the truth.   Salt must be taken with your water when you are exercising.

See the website    www.watercure2.org

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

healthnutdoug — Sat, 12 May 2007 12:58:53 GMT

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

kinesiologykid — Sat, 12 May 2007 12:32:46 GMT

One important factor is how much water you assimilate.

Emotional STRESS or toxins can dramatically affect the kidneys.

One young boy was drinking 10 litres of water a day (obviously not assimilating it). After a specific kinesiology hydration correction he was drinking one litre a day.

A client had medically diagnosed chronic fatigue. She reacted massively to a vial of homoeopathic mercury so I balanced her hydration, and strengthened her body against the energy of the mercury. All chronic fatigue symptoms disappeared instantly, eczema cleared very soon after.

The glomeruli in the cortex of the kidneys seems to be the area where really deep stress is held.

I also consider edema to be extracellular water, I have seen massively swollen legs shrink overnight (after 6-8 bathroom visits) after the hydration correction.

My mother (over 80) had a higher intracellular water reading (measured on a RJL Systems body composition analyser) than most women half her age, even though she drinks tap water!

I have lots more stories if anyone is interested!

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

Karel — Sat, 12 May 2007 10:14:27 GMT

Interestingly, I found out I can have bright yellow urine (B2 in urine, the same color as B2 pills do) even without taking any B-vitamin pills. As I take no B-vit pills the only source can be daily ingested kefir which is rich in B vitamins.

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

Duparc — Sat, 12 May 2007 09:28:32 GMT

I recall reading a media article not so long ago in which the British actor, I think it was Anthony Andrews, required emergency medical treatment after drinking too much water so the problem seems to be more common than most are aware.

re: Too Much Water Can Kill Even a Fit 22-Year-Old

jeremyroos — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 17:44:40 GMT

One very important aspect that is never addressed is the type of water they drank!! I would suspect that all water deaths have been caused by distilled or RO water. I think the lady drinking for the Wii was drinking Aquafina (distilled/RO), and I bet the military guys were too!

Plus she only weighed about 100lbs (it looks like) so dinking 2 gallons would be 4 times her recommended daily levels; to make matters worse she did not urinate the whole time!! Yes if you drink a lot of water you want to allow your kidneys to catch up or you can have trouble overloading the system, especially with distilled or RO water. I really think this is what caused her death, but the media just wants to give water a bad name, that’s why it was blasted all over the media.

Nowhere on earth does de-mineralized water occur naturally.. Distillation and Reverse Osmosis Systems produce de-mineralized water with an acidic pH. Prolonged consumption of distilled or de-mineralized water can lead to mineral deficiency. Water by nature has to balance itself and when minerals are stripped from water, it causes the pH to drop and water to become acidic. It then seeks to balance itself (a basic law of nature) and does so by taking on minerals, primarily calcium. If we consume de-mineralized water, it will actually pull its “balancing minerals” from our own body.

Very bad for health.. If I were using an RO unit to filter my water I would add Himalayan Crystal Salt to it before drinking. This will give your water life giving properties, and an abundance of minerals. I add up to 1 teaspoon per gallon, or a small pinch to a glass. I think the right amount is just below a level where you can taste salt in the water... It should just taste like smooth, soft water. I'm not completely sure if this would raise the PH enough but I suspect it would..

Stay away from standard processed salt it is not healthy.. this devitalized salt can cause problems. Salt in its natural form is in symbiotic relation with the body.

Do more research:
http://www.mercola.com/forms/salt.htm