Apparently, there is a wrong way to drink water, and you probably do it all the time

There are some things in life that we shouldn’t have to think so much about. But that would make life too easy, right? Apparently, there is a right way and a wrong way to drink water. Yes, you can actually drink water the wrong way, which is both totally ridiculous and also good to know. Hydration is everything, after all.

According to Mel Magazine, one should never chug water, even though that’s super hard not to do when you wake up in the middle of night literally dying of thirst, when you’re super hungover in the morning, or after a crazy intense session at the gym.

If you’re chugging water, you’re doing it wrong.

It’s not going to kill you, obviously. But it will make you pee more often, which means that your body is getting rid of water, making you just as dehydrated as you already feel. So chugging water just defeats the purpose of drinking water in the first place.

So what are you supposed to do when you’re parched? Sip sloooooowly. Leonard Smith, gastrointestinal, vascular and general surgeon told Mel, “You should sip water slowly, two to three ounces at a time, throughout the day.” Two ounces is not a lot — take a look at that bottle of liquid foundation or perfume you use every morning. Those little bottles are roughly what you should be drinking every hour or so, just in case you need a visual. (We did.)

Then again, when you’re really hungover or dehydrated, sometimes it might be best to just get water in there, no matter how you do it. But try not to go too fast, especially if you’re already hydrated. Although it’s crazy rare, you can drink too much water. It’s called water intoxication, and medically known as hyponatremia. It’s caused by drinking too much water in too short of a time, so the water molecules can’t fit in your blood anymore and then go into your cells, which makes them swell, especially in your brain.

And it does happen. In 2014, a 17-year-old died after drinking too much water at a football practice. In 2007, a 28-year-old woman drank two gallons of water in a short time for a radio contest and died of hyponatremia. So it’s not just an urban legend that there is such a thing as too much water.

The next time you feel the need to chug remember to put your pinky’s up and have some manners about it, lest you overdo it.