Water is (sometimes) poison.

Water is the basis for life. That’s a science, but water can also be poisonous. Namely if you drink too much of it in a short time. This applies not only to water, but to everything you eat and drink. Because too much of one product is poison, whatever it is.

Water as a lifeline

We need water to stay alive. We can go longer without food than without water. Without food we will live for weeks, but if you stop drinking it can become dangerous after a few days.
Our body consists of 60% water and we lose a lot of water during metabolism and sweating. Therefore sufficient drinking is necessary. However, drinking too much is also dangerous.

When water becomes poison

If you drink too much water in a short time you will get water intoxication. Also called hyponatraemia. This concerns an amount of more than 5 liters of water within 3 hours. This often happens under very extreme circumstances. We will mention a few point by point here:

When it is very hot you tend to drink a lot.
If you exercise a lot and sweat a lot, then there is the temptation of drinking too much water.
When using the party drugs XTC you get a feeling of thirst. There is a chance of overheating that can easily make you drink too much
In extreme challenges such as student hazing, it has already happened that students were forced to drink a lot with fatal consequences.

How much water do we need?

So drinking water is good, drinking too much water is not. What water does a person need in a day? That varies a lot per person. Weight and way of moving is important.
With this formula you can calculate how much water you need:

(body weight in kilos) / 31.5 = daily amount of water in liters.

For example, if you weigh 60 kilos, then divide this by 31.5. You then need 1.9 liters of water per day.
There are some exceptions to this.

If you practice a sport at a high intensity, for example running, then the recommendation is to drink one extra liter of water per hour.
If you eat little fruit and / or vegetables, it is recommended to drink at least 2 liters of water per day
If you are ill and / or have a weak immune system, drink more water.

Healthy eating and drinking pattern

Are you also curious about how you can integrate a healthy eating and drinking pattern into your lifestyle? BMFITT coaches can help and advise you. Make an appointment today for an intake.