Is it true that you can tan more under water?

Is it true that drinking water too quickly, or too much at once, can kill brain cells?

• As someone who is very concerned and conscious of my health, I find it so incredibly ironic that a supposed "health benefit" would turn around to bite me in the *** and do the exact opposite of what it claims to do. A month or so ago, I came across a website that had a list of "50 Thing That Cause Brain Cell Death" or something to that effect. One of the things on the list was "Drinking Too Much Water" which went on to say that drinking too quickly, or too much at once, can cause the destruction of brain cells, and incidentally erode your intelligence, which is allegedly irreversible. This really disturbed me, because last year I got caught up in the most moronic eastern medicine garbage known as "Japanese Water Therapy". Of course, practicing this therapy claimed to have an innumerable amount of health benefits, and seemingly, no overt downsides. The premise was rather simple: you were merely required to drink 2 litres, yes, LITRES (~68 ounces), very quickly upon waking up. Quickly as within several minutes. You were to chug 2 liters of water. After doing this, it would cause you to evacuate your bowels and you would feel great and blah blah blah. Afterwards, I would always end up with a minor head-ache. It was nothing severe, and it certaintly wasn't anything like a migraine, but my head merely ached. It sort of felt similiar to drinking something cold too quickly. They claimed that this was entirely normal and was due to rapid blood pressure change. Okay, I can wrap my head around that. Like I said, it was a moronic decision in which I had no concept of the reprecussions. I simply saw it as "Oh, what's the worst thing that could happen to me? Having to go to the bathroom?" I continued to do this every morning for nearly 6 MONTHS. I saw no health benefits. How many brain cells did I kill? I'm not asking for a specific number, but rather a guess of relativity. A ton? Not enough to even consider it? Am I less intelligent now than I would have been had I of not done this? Here I am, worrying about if poor grades in school, difficulty grasping abstract concepts, or making illogical decisions is a direct result of this idiotic enterprise. "Gee, I wonder if I would have understood this a year ago". Thanks.

• Answer:

  You already asked this, and the answer is the same - probably none. Drinking excess water doesn't kill brain cells. Don't get me wrong, drinking too much water can be hazardous. You can wind up with water intoxication, where the excess water throws off the salt balance in your body... the salt balance that your brain requires to function properly. It doesn't cause brain cells to die, though. It just makes it hard for them to communicate properly with one another. It also makes it hard for your muscles to work, and can interfere with various organs. It's not irreversible, though. Provided that you didn't drink enough water to kill you (or stop your heart temporarily or something like that), you'll get back to normal once you start drinking a more sensible amount of water. Two liters isn't even enough to cause problems, provided you had an otherwise-sensible diet... and even if you didn't, you're still alive so I doubt you have any lasting effects. The headaches that you experienced was probably from this disruption of salt levels and increased fluid volume in your blood. The coldness of the water could have also played a role.