You really shouldn't drink so much

I was in a café last week and overheard some people on a nearby table talking about a radio contest that went awry. Seems that the listeners were challenged to take on board the most water without weeing in order to win a Nintendo Wii. Turns out you can have too much of a good thing.

I had first-hand experience of this a few years back when I took on a challenge to down 13 litres (when I'd already racked up 2 litres for the day). 15 litres in an 8 hour period is not altogether good. Didn't strike me at the time that it could be dangerous. Strange in a way; generally speaking people talk up slaking back deep drafts of the clear stuff but rarely talk about water intoxication. Reportedly, a bunch of folk go down each year (including distance runners) not so much because they take accept challenges or enter competitions but because they're over-cautious. They take the warning to 'drink plenty of water' a little to seriously.

I don't think a couple of litres a day is going to send you to an early grave, but if you're a small rodent and you're sinking that much good gear each day, the writing's probably on the wall (and the floor).