Too much of a good thing?
When people ask me what they can do to improve their health, I always tell them to drink more water, because so few of us ever get enough. Recently, though, I met a young woman who took the advice too much to heart by downing no fewer than 25 glasses a day. In addition to feeling constantly bloated—even nauseated at times—she couldn't make it through a night without waking every few hours to use the bathroom. And while she didn't experience the dire result of too much water (a condition called hyponatremia, in which the body's blood sodium level drops dangerously low), her story does highlight that seemingly harmless practices can have unwanted consequences if you go overboard.
From the
September 2015 issue of
O, The Oprah Magazine
