The short answer: “Yes…”
While we can all agree that clean drinking water is a ‘good thing,’ believe it or not, too much of it can be really bad for your health. According to the canon of Tibetan Medicine, “The Secret Tantra of Quintessential Instructions on The Eight Branches of Deathlessness,” if the stomach were divided into 4, only a maximum of one part should be filled with food, two parts with liquid, and the final remaining part should be left empty to aid digestive flow.
That being said, when too much water is introduced into the stomach, especially in a short period of time, these ideal volumetric allotments are violated, and the person suffers from indigestion. Although indigestion may not sound like much, in Tibetan Medicine and many other traditional medical systems of the world, it is the mother of all diseases!
A perpetual feeling of fullness, pain in the abdomen, a general feeling of heaviness throughout the body, upper-respiratory congestion, and frequent belching are just some of the initial symptoms experienced by individuals who have routinely flooded their gastrointestinal system with excessive amounts of water. True to its namesake, the mother of all diseases readily progresses into the more sinister disease of ascites. The canon of Tibetan Medical Science clearly describes the pathogenesis of ascites–an accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity. The 10th Chapter of the Oral Instructions Tantra describes its pathogenesis:
Pathogenesis of Ascites
English Translation
Mucus accumulates in the stomach due to indigestion, resulting in a blockage of urinary channels and the reversal of the flow of urine into the channels meant to convey the nutritional essence of digestion. This, in turn, causes fluid to pool under the skin, and on the outer surface of the vessel organs [stomach, small intestine, large intestine, gall bladder, urinary bladder, and the reproductive vessel under the umbilicus]. This undigested nutritional essence then passes through to the liver where it fails to be processed into bodily constituents [fresh blood] and accumulates into bad blood and chusser [a yellowish-red substance found throughout the body that is a mix of elements of blood and bile]. This mix of bad blood and chusser then disperse into the space between the skin, muscle tissues, and channels. Finally, the bad blood and chusser mix accumulates in the liver and proceeds to the gall bladder, where it is processed and propagated throughout the body. This results in chusser accumulation between the muscle and skin tissues, causing “dispersed bile ascites.”
Therefore, consuming excessive amounts of water by regularly violating the principles of stomach apportionment, especially with cool water, can lead to ascites and other serious diseases. Care must thus be taken to consume water in reasonable and moderate amounts, at the rate the body requires it. I’ve written more about proper portion size, water intake, and other practical health tips in my recent book, The Eight Principles of Good Health.
