Does Drinking Too Much Water Wash Out The Vitamins?

The amount of water you drink can have an effect on your body's vitamin retention. Water's ability to flush vitamins is determined by the type of vitamin you've ingested. Drinking too much water may be a cause for concern for reasons other than vitamin loss, though. Call a poison control center if you've ingested too much of any vitamin or hydrated to the point of feeling ill.

Water Solubility

You can flush out water-soluble vitamins by drinking water. The water-soluble vitamins are vitamin C and the family of B vitamins. These vitamins should be replenished every day. Even if you aren't drinking too much water, a regular amount of water can flush them out before your body absorbs them. If your body has enough of a vitamin, your urine will naturally carry any excess out.

Fat Solubility

Your body stores fat-soluble vitamins in fat cells, so you don't have to worry about washing them out by drinking too much water. The fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins A, D, E and K. They do not need to be replenished daily if your body has enough, but you're more likely to experience symptoms of overconsumption if you're not careful because you don't eliminate them as easily as water-soluble vitamins.

Hypervitaminosis

According to a report by the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System, there hasn't been a death caused by vitamin overdose in 27 years, although some people have died from other causes while in hypervitaminosis. If you experience some of the overconsumption symptoms of water-soluble vitamins, you can drink water to flush them out. Urine will be pale yellow once your body has returned to normal. Unless directed by an emergency responder or doctor, there is no reason to chug water if you take too many fat-soluble vitamins.

Hyponatremia

Drinking too much water may be worse than the effects of flushing out vitamins. Given that you can replace water-soluble vitamins, flushing them out isn't necessarily going to send you into major deficiencies. However, flooding your body can create a sodium imbalance that results in symptoms from restlessness to coma or death. Acute hyponatremia, which occurs in a period shorter than 48 hours, is more dangerous than hyponatremia that occurs over time. If you're drinking a few extra glasses of water, such as to make up for water lost through exercise, you'll be fine.