Needing to drink 8 glasses of water every day has almost become a common knowledge, but does drinking so much water actually benefit us?A study shows that drinking excessive amounts of water can activate the mechanisms in the brain that suppress swallowing. Once these mechanisms are overridden, there is a risk of water intoxication, also known as hyponatremia in medicine.Hyponatremia is a condition that occurs when the body has too much water, leading to a low sodium level in the blood, which can cause drowsiness, nausea, convulsions, and even coma. If left untreated, it can be fatal within a few hours.Drinking water when you feel thirsty is healthier.Michael Farrell, the lead researcher at the University of Melbourne's Monash, says, "Drinking water according to your body's needs is the right approach. Drinking when you feel thirsty is healthier than following a precise drinking schedule."

We found that after drinking too much water, you have to make a conscious effort to swallow, which means we have to overcome some resistance.

Marathon runners have died from drinking too much water in certain situations because they blindly followed the advice to drink a large amount of water, ultimately drinking far more than their bodies needed.Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used to measure the activity of different parts of the brain, primarily reflecting the brain's immediate reaction before swallowing.Researchers asked participants to undergo drinking tests in two situations: when they were very thirsty, and when they were asked to drink too much water.The results showed that after drinking too much water, the brain's swallowing mechanism worked three times more.”

However, the scan showed that when participants drank too much water, the frontal lobe of the brain was more active than usual.Researchers believe that the frontal lobe is involved in enabling people to drink water once the swallowing mechanism is overridden.Farrell says that it is important to note that elderly people often cannot drink enough water, and it is important to monitor their fluid intake.If the amount of water entering the body is faster than the amount being excreted, the electrolytes in the blood will become diluted.This will cause water to enter cells and organs such as the brain, which can affect their function.Dr. Farrell noted that older adults often don't consume enough fluids and should be monitored.

If fluid intake exceeds fluid output, electrolytes in the blood will become diluted.This will allow fluids to enter cells and organs, such as the brain, and affect their function.