A New York City influencer recently took to social media to say her doctor told her she was drinking too much water.
Taylor Donaghue, 23, told her 365,000 followers that she went to a urologist to see why she was having to go to the bathroom so frequently.
‘You guys, I am that friend that would use the bathroom like every hour…it’s gotten out of control,’ she explained in a TikTok video that has gotten over 1 million views.
‘So I was like, «I’ll see a urologist finally and get all these sonograms done.»‘
According to the doctor she saw, the solution to all her problems was quite simple.
‘I just paid $500 to be told by a doctor that I just need to drink less water,’ she said.
She said the doctor also saw her 40 ounce water bottle in her purse, which was her clue that Donaghue simply had a case of drinking too much water.
Taylor Donaghue, 23, said she’s long been someone who’s had to go to the bathroom every hour. Her urologist told her she needs to drink less water
Donaghue added a bit of context in a caption on screen that explained she usually fills her 40-ounce bottle three times a day, which means she drinks roughly 120 ounces of water on any given day.
The average woman is supposed to drink 11.5 cups of fluid per day, which equates to 92 ounces of liquid, far less than the amount Donaghue said was her average intake
Plus, experts say people don’t even need to drink solely water to meet their hydration needs for the day.
If you’re eating fruits and vegetables – many of which are almost 100 percent water – or even drinking coffee or soda, all of these items help contribute to a person’s water intake, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Donaghue was told by her doctor to ‘slowly cut back’ or space out the number of times she drinks from her water bottle.
According to her, the doctor also said she didn’t ‘want to throw pills or medicine or crazy catheters at you at 23.’
Viewers of Donaghue’s video rushed to the comments to wholeheartedly agree with the medical advice she was given.
The top comment was from someone who claimed to be a medical doctor as well who wrote: ‘I’m an MD. I have no idea where everyone got the idea they need to drink SO much water.’
Donaghue said in a follow up video that she was ‘forcing’ the amount of water she was drinking because she thought it was healthy
One example of a popular trend on TikTok last year called #WaterTok where creators would dump loads of artificial sweeteners and syrups into their often-giant water bottles
Donaghue responded: ‘Yeah idk why it’s always drilled in my head to drink a ton of water I didn’t realize how much I was overdoing it! Thought it was healthy.’
Many others told Donaghue to get her blood sugar checked. This is because a common symptom of type 1 and type 2 diabetes is feeling constantly thirsty and urinating often, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Thankfully, Donaghue said in a follow up video that she didn’t have diabetes and that, in reality, she was ‘forcing’ her outsized daily water consumption because she thought it was healthy.
Social media has long been a source of misinformation when it comes to how best to consume water.
Dentists and dieticians banded together last year to condemn the #WaterTok trend which saw content creators dumping loads of artificial sweeteners and syrups into their often-giant water bottles.
Influencers began calling their various concoctions ‘WaterTok recipes.’
One TikToker even said the trend of putting zero calorie sweeteners into her water ‘made me fat.’
Beyond that, artificial sweeteners like aspartame are bad for your gut health and have been linked to behavioral and cognitive problems.
