Whether you’re going for a run, to the gym or you just feel like playing ball games, you always remember to drink plenty of water because you know all the trainers recommend it and you want to avoid dehydration.
Plus, you’ve always been told that water can do you no harm so you can feel free to drink it whenever you want it and no matter in what quantity.
Nevertheless, while staying well hydrated is common sense, you will be surprised to learn that water is not completely harmless to your health.
They say that everything in excess it damaging. This goes for water as well, according to the report issued this year by the International Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia Consensus Development Conference.
When people exercise, they tend to drink more water than they actually need. When water is consumed in excess it dilutes the sodium in our body. Sodium is necessary to maintain the functions in our body at a normal level.
If the sodium level in our body is not kept within normal parameters, we can start feeling dizzy or even feel sick, have headaches or seizures. This does not happen very often, but we should know that such symptoms could have something to do with how much water we’ve drunk, especially if we have been exercising.
This condition also has a name, it is called Exercise Associated Hyponatremia (EAH) and it is related to a few deaths. Two of them occurred last year, when two high school football players suffered from severe EAH symptoms. This prompted the consensus panel to warn the general public against such things.
The lead study author, Dr. Tamara Hew Butler spoke about the importance of exercising safely, especially during hot summer months when the tendency to drink water is greater. We must not forget that dangerously low sodium levels can prove fatal for us and we should always make sure we listen to our bodies and have water only when we feel thirsty.
This does not mean that we should start avoiding water, but only that we need to drink it regularly and in small sips, to allow our body to benefit from it as much as possible.
Image Source: amerikanki
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