Is it safe to drink a gallon (or more) of water a day?

Question

I realize this may sound like a silly question, but with that story about the mother of two drowning from drinking two gallons of water for a radio station contest, I thought the need to ask:

Is it safe to drink, say, a gallon of water a day? That's several ounces over the 10 8-ounce glasses of water a day recommendation, and I'm not an athlete, so I wouldn't be sweating it out.

I'm just interested in keeping my body healthy. I wouldn't want to do something to harm it.

Also, what about two gallons a day? Or three even? Not that I'm planning on doing that, I'm just curious.

Serious answerers only please! Thanks! :)

Answer 1

A gallon is fine, don't overdo it though. You can actually suffer from water poisoning. That where you wash vital nutrients from your body too fast and that can be fatal. Since most people don't drink any where near a gallon a day, you will be off to a good start.

Answer 2

It's safe to drink a gallon of water a day. You can actually get water poisoning if you overdo it (such as drinking a gallon of water all at once) or drinking extremely high volumes of water, much more than a gallon. It depends on your body weight and other factors, but one gallon of water is okay. I suggest you should increase your intake of vitamins and you should really eat more for dinner instead of one apple. Make sure you maintain a healthy balance of vitamins and minerals and make sure you're not under-eating. Eating less food each day isn't going to speed up the process of getting in shape or give you better results with your workout. You're on the right track though. Make sure you don't overdo it when you're working out either. Don't force your muscles past failure, don't work out too long each day (several hours per workout is too much). Try not to work out every day either. It may sound stupid, but you need to give your muscles time to heal to avoid injury (a minimum of 48 hours). Good luck!

Answer 3

A gallon a day is probably doable as long as you don't drink it all at once. The proverbial '8 glasses' amounts to 64 oz. or 2 quarts, which is usually sufficient if you're not under unusual demands. (You also get some water in your food, and make some by burning fat.)

Two gallons is pushing your luck, even if you space it out; this will stress your system even if it doesn't kill you, for no beneficial effect.

Answer 4

If you drink a gallon in a day, as in spread out from the time you wake up until you go to bed, yea it is perfectly fine but as far as drinking a gallon in a matter of minutes, that is where the problem is.

Answer 5

it's ok to drink that much water, I do, my glass holds 4cups and I'm always filling it up. I would recommend using a water filtre on your tap and to make sure that there's always a washroom near by, plus it's also good to drink a couple of cups before each meal, if you want to cut down on your food intake, but stop drinking an hour or so before bed so you won't be up during the night going to the washroom

Answer 6

well it's not UNhealthy, just, what's the point? You'd have to carry around five water bottles a day, and drink like two cups of water before and after work/school. then, you'd have to pee a lot. so it's not bad for you, just inconvenient.

Answer 7

spread out through the day it should be fine - i think i drink somewhere around that much ( makes you pee a lot though)
all in one go - only if you happen to be a horse

Answer 8

Just drink when you are thirsty. It makes no sense to do anything else. Your body will tell you how much to drink. No one knows where that 8 glasses/day rule came from. Someone just made it up and it went from there.

This is a very good article on the subject:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

Answer 9

It is safe as long as you are eating well and you are getting your electrolytes in your diet

Answer 10

You should have up to 8 litres of water a day