While the ideal amount of water varies for each person depending on your geographic location, body type, and more, according to Dana Cohen, M.D., integrative medicine physician and co-author of Quench, you should aim to drink about half of your body weight in ounces of water each day to ensure you’re staying adequately hydrated.
However, while it would take a lot to reach the point of “overhydrating,” it is, in fact, possible to drink too much water. “In overhydration an excess of water dilutes the electrolyte concentrations in the blood, causing imbalance throughout the body’s many systems,” physician Catherine Waldrop, M.D., previously told mbg.
In fact, drinking too much water can even lead to an electrolyte imbalance called hyponatremia, that can have some fairly gnarly side effects on the body. “Mild hyponatremia is characterized by gastrointestinal tract symptoms, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite,” one study revealed. In short, hyponatremia is essentially low sodium in the blood.
