Too Much Water?

I would like to ask the nutrition expets what roughtly would be too much water to intke per day, keeping in mind the person in question is over 110kg and likes his creatine.
 
Would it be possible to measure in terms of 50cl mineral bottles?

Nothing is too much in my opinion unless you drink as much water as a swimming pool can hold it will bloat you up.

But if if you say you love creatine you need quite a high intake of fluids with it. Just drink about a gallon you won't really go that wrong then.

Unless you drink at a silly rate of like a gallon per hour you'll be fine

You can actually kill yourself by drinking too much water. You'd have to seriously got some though.

Your don't need that much extra water when using creatine. Neither do you need to be taking some much water that your peeing every hr!!

I have a shake at brekkie (~400ml water), a mug of water through the day, and another glass of water/beer at night, plus PWO shake if training.

I pee 3, maybe 4 times a day. It's a nice golden colour.

Answers vary but from a performance nutrition point of view, factors include diet, ambient temp, training load and type, physique, sweat type and quantity.  WHEN and WHY you're consuming the water is almost important as HOW MUCH. 

At ~ 21 celsius, 110kg bodyweight (reasonably lean)
Baseline everyday needs are roughly just over 3L
PLUS
500-800ml (50-80cL) per hour trained (drink in and around training)
I would also add 400ml in one hour before training


Just to parrot Iain: don't go stupid with the hydration lots consumed quickly is foolish. Creatine use may need more significant amounts of water initially but this need will decrease as you continue use. 

...it's also worth remembering that if you drink too much too quickly after training then stop or quickly reduce then you go into diuresis and actually end up more dehydrated in the hours after training so that is my I have added the 'in and around training'.

People tend to forget that food is mainly made of water, and it will supply a lot of your needs.

IMO if don't feel thirsty and are urinating more than once a day, you are consuming enough water from whatever source.

My other half drinks water like it's going out of fashion, pees all the time...

Always that problem though 'enough' versus 'optimal' How do you even put a figure on the second? 

Water can influence other factors you might not think of straight off though like flexibility or joint stability so there's more to think about for some.

Your pee shouldn't be a golden colour, this is an indication of not enough fluid ingestion.

Also, if you drink too much water whilst exercising, you run the risk of diluting your electrolytes.  This will cause muscle cramping which can be pretty severe.  You don't need to worry about it whilst doing a gym session though, only endurance sessions.

TBH Tony you urine sounds as if it represents dehydration. It should be a pale straw colour.

Some stuff may change that but it's a good rule of thumb to show correct osmolarity of the unrine.

My dog has unlimited access to drinking water throughout the day. There is zero reason for him to be dehydrated - as an animal incapable of "thinking" about his hydration levels to the nth degree, he simply drinks when thirsty - this is how evolution has kept mammals alive for eons.

His urine is yellow, like mine, about this shade

im probably guilty of drinking too much water, i sometimes pee 3/4 times an hour. having a 2l bottle beside me all day and a pint glass has that effect though i guess

theres no such thing as too much though is there?

i had a pretty large multivit+mineral capsule earlier and havent drank any water all day cause i was at class, the whizz i just took made my jaw drop....it was a nuclear orange juice colour, wish i coulda seen my face :D

Yes, too much can be fatal - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

Not going to be an issue for vast, vast, vast majority of sensible folk.

Tony Barnes


My dog has unlimited access to drinking water throughout the day. There is zero reason for him to be dehydrated - as an animal incapable of "thinking" about his hydration levels to the nth degree, he simply drinks when thirsty - this is how evolution has kept mammals alive for eons.

 
Not a great argument. It is again, 'good enough' versus 'better'.  Of course two points spring to mind straight away:
1) You dog is probably far from the creature evolution produced.
2) Evolution isn't perfect. For example look at the other homeostic systems, are they perfected? Organisms are not the finished  product.

1. Ok, cat pee, cow pee, horse pee, donkey pee, monkey pee, rabbit pee, hamster pee, etc. All mammalian urines that I have seen to be yellow - not all of which we have played with the evolution of. Crystal clear urine is merely a sign of overhydration IMO.

2. Perfect no, by definition you are correct. Serve the purpose, yes, by definition. Water is not a typical nutrient (I know, it isn't one!) - we have no mechanism for sending a signal for when we need more fat, or more protein, or more carbohydrate - just more food - but we do have a great system for telling us when we need more water. The likelihood that such a system is fallible to the extent where it would promote dehydration seems pretty remote to me.

Given as the result of drinking more water than is needed is to simply piss it out, and having too little water results in having insufficient urine to unrinate regularly, if I have a full bladder 3 times a day, that's 1.5l of water that my body has decided to get rid of. 1.5l of water beyond it's need.

Hilariously today I'm actually sat with a 2nd glass of water now - my colleague has got the air con on and I'm hot as hell!!

I drink an absolute mimimum of 2 litres every day, sometimes 3 or 4 litres if I'm doing cardio that day.
I tend to feel more alert when I'm well hydrated, and I actually look better too- no bags under my eyes and my skin looks clearer and firmer, also I find that bowel movements are easier and more frequent.
I feel quite lethargic and my skin get quite spotty if I slack off it for a week or so.
I read somewhere that alot of your organs such as liver, kidneys and brain just love it when the body is well hydrated and it certainly seems to be the case for me.
I don't even need to piss all that often, anymore, the body must get used to it after a while.
In my opinion, you are dehydrated if your piss is yellow, the yellow is concentrated toxins and it must surely mean that the body is struggling to process it all.

Urine is concentrated waste rather than toxins. Uric acid is actually one of the most important antioxidants in your body, and you piss that out as a concentrate!

In your example, you're obviously drinking about what is needed

Folk who go to the loo every half an hour are drinking too much

Well, both toxins and waste is contained in urine, surely?

Drinking 2-3 litres of water per day didn't come naturally to me at first, I was practically forcing it down and I needed to piss every half hour, but that stopped after about a month.
Everyone has different requirements at the end of the day though.

I'm not going to pretend to know Uric acid is or why it is an important antioxidant, but the idea that by drinking so much water I may be flushing out good nutrients may well be true I suppose

Indeed your pee should be yellow. If it's not, ie it's clear then stop drinking!

Within reason it should be a pale straw colour.