The dangers of drinking water

Whenever you hear a scary story about some common food or ingredient being toxic, remember this fundamental principle of toxicology:

It’s the size of the dose that makes something poisonous.

I’m quoting from StatsBlog, which is run by the Statistical Assessment Service at George Mason University.

A recent sad story about a British woman illustrates the point about toxins.

Tragically, Dawn Page, who is now 52, was persuaded by a nutritionist to go on a detox diet that required consuming an extra four pints of water per day and reducing her salt intake. Within days, she began vomiting. Her nutritionist advised her to increase her water intake to six pints and cut back further on salt. Before a week had passed, Page suffered a massive epileptic fit because too much water and too little sodium in her blood (hyponatremia) caused her brain to swell. She now has permanent brain damage.

The point is not that drinking water will kill you. The point is that it’s the dose that counts.

– Photo by obo-bobolina on Flickr

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