In short, guzzle like there's no tomorrow.

Unfortunately, for some people, that kind of guzzling has brought, well, no tomorrow. One woman dropped dead in the 2002 Boston Marathon, due to hyponatremia -- loss of sodium in the blood. And March 12, 2003, an 18-year-old New York man died after allegedly being forced to drink too much water during a fraternity hazing. Four men have been charged with criminally negligent homicide in the incident at the Plattsburgh campus of the State University of New York.

Now, some major athletic organizations have changed their tune about drinking water. USA Track & Field, for example, cautions athletes to drink wisely, to replace lost fluids and to respond to their thirst rather than follow the previous preconception that placed no limits on water consumption during a race.

In other words, this is good advice. Please ignore any past advice about drinking...

In a press release before the 2003 Boston Marathon, the runner's group warned about hyponatremia -- low blood sodium. Sodium is a key electrolyte, that helps maintain the chemical and electrical balance of the body's tissues. When you sweat out too much sodium, and drink too much pure water, the result can be hyponatremia.

Several factors increase the chances of hyponatremia:
athletic exertion lasting more than four hours

small body size

drinking too much water, and

not replacing sodium lost to sweat.

Coffee and tea are diuretics - but mainly to people who are not regular drinkers. Should you count your daily coffee habit toward total fluid consumption? Image from NIH

Although nobody we spoke to claimed to be an expert on sports drinks, they all allowed that it would make sense to drink drinks, or eat foods, with lots of salt -- sodium chloride -- before or during heavy exercise. The kicker, of course, is that the symptoms of hyponatremia resemble those of dehydration -- so people who actually need electrolytes have sometimes been "revived" by giving them more of what was killing them...

Should you know when to say "when" even with plain old water?

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