Myths about How Drinking Too Much Water Can Actually Harm You

Available for Interviews: Dr. Karyn Eilber

Karyn Eilber, MD, is a board-certified urologist, an associate professor of urology & OB/GYN at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, and is an expert in women’s health and men & women’s sexual wellness.

What Dr. Eilber Can Say on:
You need to drink at least eight glasses of water a day to be healthy. You’ve heard that so many times, it must be true? But is it?

  • It’s not good to be chronically dehydrated, but being over-hydrated just makes you pee more.
  • Shockingly there is no science between drinking eight glasses of water daily. Your pet goes to their drinking source when thirsty, drinks, then walks away. Your vet has never told you to make your dog drink eight bowls of water a day, so why do humans need eight glasses of water?

  • The best indicator to drink is feeling thirsty. But if you have a chronic dry mouth, the color of your urine can indicate your hydration status. The more your urine is clear like water, the more hydrated you are. The darker and more strong smelling your urine is, the more dehydrated you are. 
  • The more you drink, the more you need to urinate–this isn’t good news for people with overactive bladder who have urinary frequency and urgency
  • Drinking too much water can dilute your electrolytes. In an extreme case, too low sodium can result in seizures.

So while you don’t want to be chronically dehydrated and put yourself at risk for things like kidney stones, you don’t need to excessively drink water because that comes with its own problems.

 

Interview: Dr. Karyn Eilber

Karyn Eilber, MD, is a board-certified urologist with sub-specialty board certification in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery and has over 20 years of experience taking care of women’s most intimate needs. She is an Associate Professor of Urology and Obstetrics & Gynecology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and is the Associate Program Director for the Cedars-Sinai Urology Residency Training Program. Prior to joining Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Eilber served at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s Urology Department, where she gained extensive experience in pelvic reconstruction following cancer treatment.

​Dr. Eilber’s research focus has been in the field of urogynecology, and she has published multiple peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. In addition to being a member and past president of the Los Angeles Urologic Society, Dr. Eilber is a member of the American Urological Association, the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital reconstruction, the American Urogynecologic Society, and the Society of Women in Urology. She is also a Founding Medical Partner of Doctorpedia.

Dr. Eilber earned her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, Riverside, which was an accelerated 3-year premedical program that allowed her to matriculate into the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine (UCLA). She completed a general surgery internship, urology residency, and female pelvic medicine fellowship at UCLA. 

Contact:
Jo Allison
Managing Editor
Director of Public Relations
MEDIA AMBASSADORS
Success In Media, Inc.
Jo@SuccessInMedia.com

 

Leave a Reply