About 60%-70% of our adult body is water. Moreover, our body is also inseparable from water. Metabolism and cell activities require the participation of water. So we need to get water from food or water every day.
However, after the external water reaches the body, it needs to be filtered by the kidneys. So the question is, if the body drinks too much water, will it cause increased pressure on the kidneys?
Water’s Journey
When we drink the water, the water will follow our esophagus to the stomach. The stomach’s absorption capacity is very weak and can only absorb a small amount of the water. The remaining water will enter the human intestines. At this time, most of the water will be absorbed in the intestines. The remaining unabsorbed amount will be excreted with feces.
After the human intestine absorbs water, the water will follow the blood to the veins, then return to the heart through the veins, and enter the arteries through the left ventricle of the heart. The water in the arteries will flow into the kidneys, and the kidneys will filter this water to form original urine, but this part of the original urine will not be excreted immediately, and 99% of the original urine will continue to flow into the blood to participate in systemic circulation.
And some water that can no longer be used will flow from the kidneys to the bladder. The bladder is like a balloon, which can hold about 500 ml of urine. However, when about 300ml of urine is stored in the bladder, we will produce urine; when the urine in the bladder exceeds 500ml, we will be anxious to go to the toilet; when the urine in the bladder exceeds 800ml, this point has reached the limit of many people, and many people will pee their pants because of this situation.
The more water you drink, the greater the pressure on the kidneys?
In fact, proper drinking water will not cause greater pressure on the kidneys. On the contrary, drinking less water will cause the body’s function to decline. We know that the main component of our cells is also water, and the cell absorbs water mainly through the concentration difference on both sides of the cell membrane, which makes the water enter the cell.
When the concentration difference on both sides of the cell membrane is close, the cells cannot get water from the outside world. When the concentration on the outside of the cell membrane is higher and the concentration inside the cell is lower, the water inside the cell will be lost.
When we drink less water, the amount of water available in our body will be less. At this time, the concentration difference on both sides of the cell will be closer, and the cell will not be able to obtain water, so that thirst will occur.
When we drink a lot of water but within a reasonable range, it does not actually burden the body, because the kidneys filter water all the time. When we drink more than a reasonable range, it is easy to cause water poisoning. The cause of water poisoning is that the body absorbs more water than the body excretes.
We know that the excretion of human body water mainly depends on urine, and the continuous maximum diuretic rate of the kidney is 16 ml per minute. Under normal circumstances, it can excrete 800-1000 ml of urine per hour. Drinking water in this range is almost harmful to the body, but no harm.
Once we over drain the water for a short period of time, the excess water will be too late to be excreted from the body, so that the excess water will enter the cells in large quantities and cause hyponatremia.
Hyponatremia will make the cells more water-absorbing and swell the cell volume, which is very fatal to the brain, causing brain edema, brain swelling, etc., leading to coma and even death. This is what we often call \”water poisoning\”.
In addition, there is another situation that can cause water intoxication, which is to replenish a lot of water immediately after a lot of sweating. We know that our sweat contains not only water, but also a lot of salt. When we sweat a lot, the salt in the blood will decrease. At this time, if we drink a lot of water, it will cause the water to be quickly absorbed into the tissue cells, resulting in excessive expansion of the cells, resulting in chronic water intoxication. The correct approach is to drink light salt water after a lot of sweating, not only to add water to the body, but also to add salt to the body.
Summary
For healthy kidneys, drinking plenty of water does not put pressure on them. But if you have kidney disease, you need to be hydrated under the guidance of a doctor.
Under normal circumstances, the best amount of drinking water per day is about 1500 ml. Note that this water should not be consumed at one time, otherwise it may cause water poisoning.
It should also be noted that drinking water is only to supplement water, not to supplement nutrition, so we don’t need to pursue the category of water too much. As long as it is clean water, water that meets drinking standards, whether it is mineral water, purified water, or Plain water can be consumed with confidence.
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