How To Lose Weight By Drinking Water

Will drinking more water truly contribute to weight loss?

Although no one claims that drinking water before bed (or at any other time) can help you lose weight in one night, evidence does support the water–weight loss connection. After all, water makes up 60% of your body, so the clear, calorie-free liquid plays a role in almost every bodily function. According to study, the more hydrated you are, the more effectively your body conducts tasks ranging from thought to burning body fat.

Water, according to science, can aid weight loss in a number of ways. It can suppress your appetite, improve your metabolism, and make it easier and more effective to exercise, all of which could lead to results on the scale.

While your body weight can be influenced by countless variables, habits, and predispositions, if your target is long-term, moderate weight loss, making sure you’re hydrated may be a good place to start.

Drinking Water Will Burn More Calories

The result of drinking one 0.5 liter (17 oz) serving of water was investigated in most of the studies mentioned below.

Drinking water increases the resting energy consumption, or how many calories you burn.

In adults, it was shown that resting energy consumption increased by 24-30 percent within 10 minutes of drinking water. This takes at least 60 minutes to complete.

One analysis of overweight and obese children showed a 25% rise in resting energy expenditure after drinking cold water, which supports this hypothesis.

The effects of increasing water intake to over 1 liter (34 oz) per day on overweight women were explored in a report. They found that this resulted in an additional 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of weight loss over a 12-month period.

Since these women, except for drinking more water, did not make any lifestyle changes, these findings are quite impressive.

Furthermore, both of these studies show that drinking 0.5 liters (17 oz) of water burns an additional 23 calories. That amounts to around 17,000 calories on an annual basis, or over 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of fat.

Several other research tracked overweight people for a few weeks as they drank 1-1.5 liters (34–50 oz) of water. A substantial decrease in weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and body fat were found.

When the water is cold, these outcomes can be even more remarkable. Your body uses extra calories to heat the water up to body temperature when you drink cold water.

Drinking Water Can Suppress Appetite Before Meals

When you know you’re hungry, your first instinct can be to go out and get something to eat. However, feeding might not be the remedy. “Thirst caused by mild dehydration is frequently mistaken for brain hunger,” says Melina Jampolis, an internist and board-certified nutrition professional for physicians. “If you are actually low in fluids, not in calories, you will be able to reduce your appetite by drinking water.”

Moreover, drinking water can facilitate satiation because it rapidly passes through the system, stretching the stomach. “This sends signals signalling fullness to your brain,” Jampolis states.

“Elizabeth Huggins, a Hilton Head Health Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, adds that “drinking water shortly before eating will help minimize food consumption, but the effects are temporary. The theory is backed by research: people who drank two glasses of water immediately before a meal ate 22 percent less in a small 2016 study than those who did not drink any water before meals.

Two cups should be enough to fill your stomach to the point that your brain feels fullness.

Drinking Water Will Stimulate Your Metabolism

According to Huggins, it is likely that drinking water increases the metabolism and energy spending of the body, eventually helping with weight loss.

When 50 girls with excess weight consumed about two cups of water half an hour before breakfast, lunch, and dinner without any additional dietary adjustments, they lost weight in an eight-week study conducted in 2013, and saw declines in body mass index and body composition ratings.

This isn’t magic: Drinking water, particularly when it is chilled, tends to promote thermogenesis, or heat output, in the body. To warm the fluid to body temperature, the body needs to exert energy, and the more energy the body expends, the quicker your metabolism (the mechanism by which your body turns what you eat and drink into energy) works. Specifically, in a small 2003 study reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, consuming around two cups of 71 ° F water contributed to a 30 percent average improvement in the metabolic rates of 14 healthy adults.

Before you go ahead and fill your glass or plate, bear in mind that the results of thermogenesis are unlikely to result in major calorie deficits that contribute to weight loss. “It is important to remain hydrated even if the impact is marginal,” Huggins says, adding that there are few, if any, downsides to drinking more water.

Drinking Water Will Help Minimize Your Average Consumption Of Liquid Calories

Since water contains no calories, it will minimize your total liquid calorie consumption by filling your glass with water instead of higher calorie substitutes such as juice, soda, or sweetened tea or coffee. Choose water over the regular 20-ounce soft drink vending machine, and you’re going to drink 250 calories less, Huggins points out.

The calorie savings will add up easily, she says, as long as you don’t “make up” for those calories, i.e. walk out of the coffee shop with a muffin and water instead of the normal flavored latte.

Also interesting: While diet soda does not contain any calories, the replacement of diet drinks with water in some groups of people can be a factor leading to weight loss. In a 2015 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, overweight and obese women who substituted diet drinks with water after their main meal demonstrated greater weight reduction during a weight loss program. The extra weight loss in those who drank water could be due to eating less calories and carbohydrates, according to the researchers, but more research is required. All things considered, since many diet beverages hydrate and reduce calorie intake when substituted for sugary beverages, they helped weight loss in some people.

Drinking Water Helps To Exercise

During exercise, water is important to the body: it dissolves electrolytes, minerals that include sodium, potassium, and magnesium, and distributes them across the body, where their electrical energy induces muscle contractions necessary for movement, explains Jampolis. Cramping is one of the side effects of not drinking enough water, but it’s not the only one.

“They break down protein (aka muscle) more quickly and create muscle more slowly when muscle cells are dehydrated, so your workouts are much less effective,” she says.

Moreover, during exercise, the body loses fluids more rapidly because it produces heat that is shunted to the surface of the skin, where transpiration and subsequent evaporation (a cooling process) help control temperature.

According to Jampolis, remaining hydrated helps preserve your blood flow, which allows you to maximize the expansion of blood vessels at the skin’s surface to release heat.

“If, by sweating, your body does not dump excess heat, you’re setting yourself up for heat exhaustion or worse,” she says. “By decreasing exhaustion, being properly hydrated will boost your workouts, which will allow you to work out longer and burn more calories.” That’s why hydrating before and during your workout is so critical, not just when you start feeling thirsty.

Water Allows The Body To Eliminate Toxins

Water helps in the processing of urine, which is mainly water, as well as the movement of feces, as water keeps stools soft. To put it another way, the more hydrated you are, the easier it is for your body to pass things along and the less likely you are to encounter constipation or bloating.

Furthermore, proper hydration, according to Huggins, encourages kidney function, flushes harmful bacteria from the urinary tract, and prevents kidney stones, which can occur with more concentrated urine.

The Body Needs Water To Burn The Fats

According to a 2016 mini-review of animal studies published in Frontiers in Nutrition, increasing your water intake can increase lipolysis, the process by which the body burns fat for energy. “We don’t know why, but mild dehydration reduces lipolysis, which may be due to hormone changes,” says Jampolis, who was not involved in the research. Another hypothesis proposed in animal research is that water increases the volume of cells, which may play a role in the metabolism of fat. Among human subjects, however, it remains unproven.

Water Can Increase Motivation And Relieve Tension

Dehydration can cause exhaustion, dizziness, and uncertainty, and who wants to make good decisions when they’re feeling this way? Dehydration, the 2016 mini-review investigator found, can also be related to sleepiness and diminished alertness. And another study, published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine, found that dehydration stimulates the development of cortisol, the stress hormone, by your body.

“These symptoms can make it difficult for you to exercise, cook at home, or make better food choices,” Jampolis states.

Other Health Benefits Of Drinking Water

Water Makes The Skin Shiny

The exact mechanism is still not understood by scientists, but considering the essential role of water in most of your body functions, it makes sense that it will also be instrumental in skin health. Researchers discovered in a 2015 study published in the journal Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology that increase in water consumption can affect the skin in the same way as a topical moisturizer and could have a beneficial effect on normal skin physiology, including elasticity (the loss of which is related to sagging and wrinkles).

Water Is Improving Your Brain Capacity

Like the rest of the body, the brain relies on water to function most effectively. In fact, water makes up 73 percent of the brain. According to research published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, even moderate dehydration (as little as 2% water loss) impairs efficiency in tasks that require concentration, cognitive functions, physical activity, and immediate memory skills.

Water Helps To Maximize Physical Performance

Your physical performance will suffer if you do not stay hydrated.

During intense exercise or high heat, this is especially relevant.

Even if you lose just 2% of your body’s water content, dehydration can have a noticeable impact. It’s not unusual for athletes, however, to lose as much as 6-10% of their water weight through sweat.

This can result in altered regulation of body temperature, diminished motivation, and increased fatigue. It can also make physical and mental exercise feel much more difficult.

This has been shown to be avoided by adequate hydration, which can also reduce the oxidative stress that occurs during high-intensity exercise. When you know that the muscle is around 80 percent water, this is not shocking.

Staying hydrated will help you perform at your best if you exercise regularly and sweat a lot.

Water Can Help To Prevent And Treat Headaches

Some people suffer headaches and migraines as a result of dehydration.

One of the most common symptoms of dehydration, according to studies, is a headache. Dehydration, for example, caused 40 percent of the participants in a survey of 393 people to develop a headache.

What’s more, some research has shown that in those who have chronic headaches, drinking water can help treat headaches.

A research of 102 men showed that drinking an extra 50.7 ounces (1.5 liters) of water per day resulted in substantial changes on the Migraine-Specific Quality of Life scale, a scoring system for symptoms of migraine.

In addition, 47 percent of the men who drank more water reported a drop in headaches, compared to just 25% of the men in the control group.

However, not all studies agree, and researchers have concluded that further research is needed to validate how increasing hydration will help improve symptoms of headache and reduce headache frequency due to the lack of high quality studies.

Water Can Help To Alleviate Constipation

Constipation is a prevalent condition marked by rare bowel movements and stool trouble moving.

As a part of the treatment process, increasing fluid intake is frequently advised, and there is some evidence to back this up.

Constipation tends to be related to a lack of water intake in both young and old people.

Constipation can be alleviated by can hydration.

Mineral water can be particularly helpful for those suffering from constipation.

Studies have shown that magnesium- and sodium-rich mineral water increases the frequency and quality of bowel movement in people with constipation.

Water Can Help To Treat Kidney Stones

In the urinary system, urinary stones are painful clumps of mineral crystals that shape.

Kidney stones, which form in the kidneys, are the most common form.

There is little evidence that drinking water can help prevent recurrence of kidney stones in people who have already had them.

The amount of urine flowing through the kidneys is increased by higher fluid intake. Mineral amounts are diluted, making them less likely to crystallize and form clumps.

Water can also help prevent the initial forming of stones, but to confirm this, studies are needed.

Water Helps To Avoid Hangovers

The unpleasant symptoms encountered after drinking alcohol apply to a hangover.

Alcohol is a diuretic, so you lose more water than you drink. This can contribute to dehydration.

While dehydration isn’t the primary cause of hangovers, it may result in symptoms such as thirst, nausea, headache, and dry mouth.

Drinking a glass of water between drinks and getting at least one large glass of water before going to bed are effective ways of minimizing hangovers.

How Much Water Do You Need To Drink ?

You’ve probably heard the popular rule of “eight 8-ounce glasses a day,” but the fact is that the amount of water required differs greatly depending on age, sex, fitness, physical activity, propensity to sweat, and more. According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, or NASEM, the majority of healthy individuals sufficiently fulfill their everyday hydration needs by letting thirst be their guide.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average American adult consumes about five cups of water a day. The NASEM recommends that women drink about 91 ounces (about 11 cups) of water a day, while men should drink about 125 ounces (about 15 and a half cups). Around 80 percent of the fluid intake recommended comes from drinking water and snacks, while the other 20 percent comes from foods high in water.

After you pee, one way to decide whether you are drinking enough water is to peer into the pot. “The color of your urine is the best way to go,” Jampolis says. “You’re not drinking enough if it’s dark yellow. Look for a pale yellow hue.”

Or you can use our DAILY WATER INTAKE CALCULATOR !

How Can We Lose Weight By Drinking Water ?

# 1 Drink Water Before Your Meals

Since water suppresses appetite, drinking it before meals will make you feel fuller, resulting in a reduction in the amount of food you consume. According to the health resource website WebMD, drinking water before meals decreases calorie consumption by 75 calories per meal on average. Drinking water before one meal a day will save you 27,000 calories over the course of a year. Do the math: you’d lose about 8 pounds a year on drinking water alone! If you drank it before each meal, imagine now.

# 2 Replace Sugar Filled Beverages With Water

To lose weight, ditch the sodas and juice and replace them with wine. Put a slice of lemon to your water if you find it bland. A glass of lemon water is a formula for successful weight loss because the pectin in lemons helps to minimize the cravings for food. Do you agree that drinking water doesn’t help you lose weight? For just a couple of weeks, give up those sugary drinks and see the difference.

# 3 Drink Cold Water Or Add Ice

Drinking ice cold water tends to improve your metabolism, according to the editorial staff at WebMD, so your body needs to work harder to warm the water up, thereby eating more calories and helping you lose weight. Plus, ice cold water is a lot more soothing than room temperature water.

# 4 Take Your Water To The Gym

You can exercise longer and harder since drinking water prevents muscle cramps and keeps the joints lubricated. Another way that sufficient hydration aids weight loss.

# 5 Make Sure You Drink Enough Water

If you really want your water to help you lose weight, adhere to the “8×8” rule, which is suggested by most nutritionists: For weight loss and to maintain an ideal weight, drink eight eight-ounce glasses of water a day. If you exercise regularly or sweat a lot, you may need to drink more water; if you drink other drinks such as herbal tea, you may need to drink less water (make sure they are decaffeinated).

The amount of water you need depends on your height, weight, and activity level, according to Trent Nessler, PT, DPT, MPT, managing director of Baptist Sports Medicine in Nashville. He adds that, with every pound you weigh, you can try to drink between half an ounce and one ounce of water every day.

What’s the best way to be sure if you’re getting enough water ?

When you have gone to the bathroom, a general rule is to check the toilet. When your urine is clear or very light yellow in color, you’ll understand you’re well-hydrated. The darker your urine, the more water you should drink, especially if you’re trying to lose weight.

Or you can use our DAILY WATER INTAKE CALCULATOR !

Conclusion

For weight loss, water can be very beneficial.

It’s calorie-free, lets you burn more calories, and can even help you lose weight if taken before meals.

If you substitute sugary drinks with water, the advantages are even greater. It’s a very easy way to cut back on calories and sugar.

Bear in mind, though, that if you want to lose a substantial amount of weight, you’ll need to do more than just drink water.

Water is just a minor part of the puzzle.