Expert: Paul Wagner - 6/7/2005

Question
Can you become drunk from water, and if yes how? and what affects does it have on the body?

Answer
Hi Nemo:

Not really drunk...in that water doesn't have the same effect as alcohol.  YOu won't feel woozy or dizzy from it.  But you can drink so much water that it starts to affect how your body functions--and even so much that it overwhelms your kidney's ability to process it.  A couple of years ago some poor young man at a college frat house was forced to drink so much water that he died...simply from that.  

As with so many other things, the secret to happiness lies in moderation.  Current research seems to say that we should all drink something between four and six glasses of water a day.

Paul Wagner