Drinking water in excess harmful

Chennai: Though medicos mostly stress on drinking maximum possible water for keeping healthy, Ayurvedic texts and Vedas link certain diseases to consumption of excess of water.

All problems related to digestion such as constipation, acidity, abdominal pain and changes in the pattern of bowel movements are mostly due to sluggish digestion power. Improving the central digestive fire Jatharagni, which is the fiery metabolic energy of digestion, can cure these problems, says Dr Parmeshwar Arora, senior consultant, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi while explaining his research paper on the topic,- “Water-Elixir or Poison?”

Within the digestive system, agni determines the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach throughout the gastro-intestinal tract and excess quantity of water consumed to resolve digestive issues actually make these conditions chronic which eventually become incurable, he added.

As per Ayurveda, a generally healthy person should drink adequate amount of water in summer (Mid May to Mid July) and Autumn (Mid September to Mid December) and minimum possible amount of water in rest of the seasons.
 If someone has a tendency to drink too much of water at a time even when thirsty, this can become a cause of ‘Pitta’ and ‘Kafa’ related diseases like indigestion, bloating, nausea, vomiting, over-salivation, heaviness in the body and even cold-cough and respiratory issues. Especially, fever patients should only drink small quantity of water slowly and with patience, say Ayurveda experts.

Dr Parmeshwar says that as per Ayurveda whether water has to be taken on its own or after medicating it with suitable herbs or taken after boiling it or taken in cold form or taken as just warm water. Consumption of un-boiled water increases the possibility of different types of infections in the body.

“Water is only liquid food, which is neither cooked before consumption, nor does the digestion fire processes it. So, it is clear that if water is contaminated, it can reach out blood streams and become the cause of infections. In general this contamination is removed by boiling process. Hence it is recommended to consume only boiled water,” he added.

What to do?

Right quantity, right time and right way of drinking water

In general, a healthy person should consume between 1 to 1.5 litres of liquid in a day, which includes water, milk, juice, tea, coffee etc. To put it more precisely, we can assume a person to be consuming enough quantity of liquid if he/she is releasing 0.5 to 1 litre of urine in a day.

General recommendations

For Intestinal Cleansing: Consume 250-300 ml or a full glass of warm water, sip by sip on empty stomach in the morning.

For Helping in Digestive Process: Water with Meal:  a cup (i.e. about 150 ml) of warm water should be consumed, sip by sip while having meal. After Meals, consume a small cup (150-200 ml) of warm water every hour or two, even when not feeling thirsty.

On Feeling Thirsty: Drink a small cup (i.e. 150-200 ml) of water, patiently. It is best to drink warm water or boiled water kept for less than 24 hrs.