Are you the type of person who chugs water on a regular basis?
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Is this really the best way to go about drinking water?
Is chugging water bad for you?
In this article, we’ll give you a quick introduction to the idea of chugging water and why this is not a great way to get your daily water intake. You’ll find out several negative effects of drinking too much water too quickly, and you may even be able to determine the underlying causes of some of your health concerns in the process, too.
Are there any pros to drinking water like this? Is there any reason why you might not want to stop chugging your water? Not really—it’s truly not good for your body to do this, and it’s much better to take your time and drink slowly to hydrate your body safely and more effectively, too.
Read through the information below to help you become better informed about the right and wrong ways to drink your water.
Negative Effects of Chugging Water
Drinking water too quickly can be bad for you for a variety of reasons. It’s a good idea to really understand this before you think about the way you usually drink water. Read through this section to find out all the negative aspects of chugging water, and use this information to think about changing your water drinking habits too. You never know when a small change could make a huge difference in your health!
1. Chugging water can make you feel nauseated.
If you are the type of person who gets nauseated easily, you’re probably going to notice this happening when you chug your water too fast. This is, again, a sign that you aren’t digesting your food properly and that there is too much water sitting in your stomach. If you can hear the water sloshing around in your stomach, then you’ve probably had too much to drink! Do yourself a favor and take smaller sips or even chew on ice chips if you’re feeling nauseated. This will help settle your stomach faster and keep you hydrated in the event you vomit, as well.
2. Chugging a lot of water can cause water intoxication.
It’s not a very common problem, but it does happen—water intoxication is a serious and dangerous condition that comes from drinking too much water too quickly. If you chug a huge volume of water, your body will stop functioning the way its supposed to. Too much water in your body and bloodstream can and will cause you to become sick, and it may make you pass out and could even lead to death. There are several documented cases of people dying from water intoxication, so don’t chug your water and you won’t be at risk for this yourself.
3. Chugging water can cause indigestion.
If you drink a lot of water very quickly, guess what else you’re also ingesting at the same time? Air! And when you have too much air in your stomach, you probably know what comes next. You’re going to get bloated and feel very uncomfortable pretty quickly. This can quickly lead to indigestion, as your stomach is not processing everything correctly because of the abundance of air present in your digestive system. You’ll have gas and may need to burp a lot, and if you’re trying to get through your work day, this is definitely not an ideal situation.
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4. Chugging water can dilute the blood or stomach acid.
If your blood is diluted, this means there isn’t enough sodium in your bloodstream, and therefore the water in your body pushes its way into your cells instead. This leads to water intoxication, which we went over earlier. Dilution of your stomach acid is a serious problem, too, although less potentially deadly. This side effect is not a scientifically proven one, but it is true that many people who chug water too quickly aren’t able to digest their food properly and therefore get sick from the abundance of water in the stomach.
5. Chugging water can unbalance your electrolytes.
Aside from sodium, you have other important electrolytes in your body. The sodium is the one that’s going to keep you from suffering from water intoxication, but the others are necessary for healthy body operations too. If you have too much water too fast, you’ll find that you don’t have enough electrolytes in your body—or that you have too many. Either way, you are going to feel very sick, weak, and may even be unable to move very well until your body gets itself regulated again. In extreme situations, you may need to go to the hospital.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are several downsides to drinking too much water too quickly. Even if you don’t end up risking a very serious condition like water intoxication, you still may wind up hurting yourself or making yourself sick in other ways. All in all, it’s simply not good for your body to drink water too fast, and you may even find that you gain weight or can’t get rid of the weight you’re trying to lose when you do this too regularly. Too much of anything is usually not ideal, and water is no different!
So what can you do instead? What is the best way to drink your water?
The best option for drinking your water is to sip it slowly. While you may be tempted to chug it as fast as you can so you can get through the eight glasses of water you’re supposed to drink every day, you are not doing yourself any favors by doing this. Take your time, sip your water, and don’t overdo it. It’s also better to drink your water at room temperature than it is to drink very cold water, so it’s a good choice to get a water bottle with a drinking schedule printed on the side and keep it with you all day. This way, you can keep track of how much you’ve had to drink and let your water warm up a little, too.
Keep all of this in mind when you’re working on improving your water drinking habits. Your body is sure to thank you for it!
Additional Research:
https://melmagazine.com/if-youre-chugging-water-to-hydrate-you-re-doing-it-wrong-d60a58a1f52b
5 Reasons Why Chugging Water Is Not Always the Best Idea
- Drinking too much water can lead to hyponatremia, a condition where the sodium levels in your body become dangerously low.
- Chugging water can cause bloating and stomach discomfort.
- Chugging large amounts of water can cause you to feel full and not eat enough food.
- Chugging water can also cause you to lose electrolytes, which are essential for proper hydration.
- Chugging water can also lead to an imbalance in your body's pH levels, which can be dangerous.
ALSO: Make sure to drink small sips of water throughout the day instead of chugging large amounts at once!
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