Drink More Lose More

Everyone knows that drinking water is essential for good health, but for those attempting to lose weight, it is even more important. People don’t realize that one of the main functions of fat is to dilute impurities that we’ve digested. By drinking water, more impurities are flushed from the body, decreasing the need for fat and allowing increased weight loss. Water also combines with oxygen to speed the process of converting fat into energy.

Additionally, water is a natural appetite suppressant. Drinking water before meals can help you to feel fuller and, consequently, eat less at mealtime. According to the popular health website, WebMD, drinking water before a meal results in an average decrease in caloric intake of 75 calories per meal.

Research has also revealed that, because natural foods like fruits, vegetables, yogurt, and eggs have a high content of water and the body knows it can get water from food, the human brain doesn’t always distinguish hunger from thirst. The thirst mechanism may be mistaken for hunger causing people to grab processed foods readily available in our modern diet. The problem is that these foods have little to no water content. Accordingly, the body has increased calorie consumption but remains dehydrated and craving water. So, at the onset of that first hunger pang in between meals, it’s a good idea to drink a glass of water and then wait about 15-20 minutes before jumping to the conclusion that you need a little something to snack on.

Some people say they don’t drink much water to avoid water weight gain, when in fact, the opposite is true. The body will actually retain water if it is dehydrated. You see, water is to a body as oil is to an engine. The body needs water to “run” and it simply won’t let go of fluid it knows it needs.

So how much water should you drink? Unfortunately, there is no standard answer as it depends on several conditions such as a person’s activity level, size, weight, climate, and health condition. (People with medical conditions where fluid intake needs to be limited should follow physician recommendations.) An accurate estimation is to drink around half your weight in ounces of water, slowly, throughout the day. A person weighing 180 lbs. would drink about 90 ounces, one 10-ounce glass every hour for 9 hours. Don’t guzzle…it can be hard on the kidneys. You’ll know you’re drinking enough water to keep yourself properly hydrated if your urine is a pale yellow to clear color. Let water, good ole’ H2O, help you to increase metabolism, regulate appetite and retain less fluid….bottoms up!