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Comment by ahallock | Hacker News Reader

I really don't think you should be giving vague advice like this -- it could be dangerous for some people.

> drinking lots and lots of water

People who are sedentary and probably drinking more water than someone who finished a marathon does not sound like a good idea to me. I was drinking a ton of water throughout the day based on ideas like this and got sick from it. I feel much better now having cut my water intake. Could the converse also be true, that we're overestimating how much water we actually need?

> Hunger pangs are usually just food cravings

Are you sure? For me cravings and hunger pangs are entirely different feelings.

I don't doubt there are benefits to some forms of fasting, but people should consult their doctors first and tread carefully.

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Unless you have a specific health condition, do you really need to consult a physician before trying out an activity that humans have engaged in for thousands of years? Especially with all the information accessible online these days, plenty of it from experts in the field.

>Especially with all the information accessible online these days, plenty of it from experts in the field.

How would information online from experts in the field helps someone determine their cellular hydration levels or their various levels/requirements of sodium/potassium/calcium/magnesium? These are things that should be monitored over a 5 day water fast not guessed at based on information read online.

You don't know whether you have a health condition if you don't consult a physician beforehand.

I don't know how we as a society came to accept physicians as the general arbiter of health, rather than as a mechanic that fixes us when we're broke, but a lot of why health care in this country is so expensive is due to that. Similarly, why education is so expensive is because we as a society have allowed the college degree to be the marker of who deserves opportunity or not.

Really sad.

In part because we came to assume that commercial speech was anything but self-serving: in this case, being litigation protection rather than public health.

Typically, you also don’t know that after you consult a physician.

The risk of hyponatremia is pretty low - you'd need to sustain drinking over about a quart per hour, or much larger amounts in a short period of time. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318619.php It takes some sustained effort for most people to do that (and many bathroom breaks).

Drink when you're thirsty. Realize that often "wanting something to eat" can be a symptom of thirst or satisfied by getting a drink. Drink a full glass of water 15 minutes before eating. You'll be fine.

I think it's worth pointing out that even the most successful medicine can be dangerous for some people and so it's absolutely meaningless to bring it up.

I was drinking a ton of water throughout the day based on ideas like this and got sick from it

I get your point, but what was in your water? Did you just drink too much water once or this happened over a period of time?

I was drinking Essentia 1.5 liter bottles throughout the day for a few months. I started noticing I didn't feel right after drinking it -- it was almost like a headache. I know this isn't scientific and there could have been another cause, but drastically cutting my intake removed the symptoms.

Drinking multiple _liters_ of water in a relatively short time can cause water intoxication [1] due to the drop in relative electrolyte levels. I got it once at scout camp where, unfortunately, the medic misdiagnosed me with dehydration and had me drink a gallon of water. I ended up urinating about every ten minutes for the next 24 hours, and is one of the most unpleasant experiences I've gone through.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

It sounds like potentially your water/electrolyte balance was more the issue than simply saying you over consumed water. As the water consumption increases your intake of sodium, magnesium, potassium and calcium should have been equally increased. Did you do that? Did you have a blood panel done to see if you were deficient in any vitamins/minerals?

The easiest medical problem to get from drinking far too much water is hyponatremia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia

I'm sure you don't have any reason to try this again, but this condition could be confirmed by a blood test.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia

Drinking too much water is dangerous. People have died from hyponatremaia. The original poster should not be spouting general advice unless he knows his stuff, which I doubt.

I'm normally not going to fuss over petty downvotes but as hyponatremia can kill, perhaps you can hold off this time?

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