What If You Drink Too Much Water？ ｜ Water Intoxication ｜ Overhydration Side Effects ｜ Dr. Binocs)

Whoa! Hold on there, little kitty. You've had enough water for today. Drink slowly, okay? Why slow down? Because drinking too much water can actually be harmful. Are you serious? Well, let me explain that by answering your question. By answering a wishy-washy question. What if we drink too much water? Zoom in! We all know that water makes up about 60% of our body weight and is crucial for almost every function in our body. From keeping ourselves hydrated to regulating temperature and ensuring our organs work smoothly. However, just like with anything else, too much of a good thing can become a problem and water is no exception. But before we get into that, let's first explore how water moves through your body. When you drink water, it starts a pretty quick journey through your digestive system. It goes from your stomach to your small intestine where most of it gets absorbed into your bloodstream. Once it's in your bloodstream, the water heads to your kidneys. Kidneys act like the body's filtration system, getting rid of extra fluids and waste. They produce urine, which carries the extra water to your bladder and from there, it eventually leaves your body. This whole process is not just about getting rid of waste, it's also crucial for keeping the right balance of fluids in and around your cells. But here's the catch, your kidneys can only process about 800-1000 ml of water per hour. So, if you drink more than that in a short time, your body can't keep up. In that case, it either tries to get rid of the excess water or if it can't, you risk developing a dangerous condition called water intoxication or hyponatremia. And what is that? Well, when you drink water faster than your kidneys can process, the extra water stays in your bloodstream and eventually ends up around your cells. Normally, your cells are surrounded by a balanced solution of sodium and water which flows in and out through tiny openings in the cell membrane, keeping everything in balance. But too much water disrupts this delicate balance as the sodium solution in your blood becomes too diluted. In other words, it's not salty enough. So to fix this, your body tries to move the extra water into your cells, causing them to swell like a balloon. Now, most of your cells can handle a little swelling because soft tissues like fat and muscle are flexible. But your brain cells are a different story. They are trapped inside your skull which is hard and doesn't have any room to expand. So, as your brain cells swell, pressure builds up inside your head. At first, you might get a headache, feel confused or start getting drowsy. But as the pressure keeps rising in rare cases, things can get serious fast. You could experience brain damage, slip into a coma or even face life-threatening consequences. All in less than 10 hours. So to stay safe and avoid water intoxication, drink water throughout the day rather than all at once. Your body will tell you when it needs more fluids by making you feel thirsty. So listen to that signal and drink up when you're thirsty. Trivia Time! Did you know that unlike foods, water can be digested in as little as 5 minutes? On the other hand, simple liquids like tea and juice take about 30 minutes to digest and absorb. Sketching Time! Today's sketch of the day goes to Anine Aisha. Hope you learned something important today. Until next time, it's me, Dr. Binox, zooming out. What are you doing, kitty? I'm drinking excess water. Never mind.