Lose Weight With Water
The human body is mostly water trapped inside the
fragile walls of cells. We drink water to maintain the optimum level of
hydration in our bodies, to flush the toxins out and cleanse the body,
to cool off, to keep the joints working and to help the food digestion
process. The minimum daily recommended water intake is 2 liters,
because this is how much water the body uses throughout the day through
sweating, urination and other bodily functions. Without replenishing
lost water, the body goes into dehydration and all functions start to
suffer, which is why dieting professionals recommend abstaining from
food, but never from water.
Like many other bodily functions, the metabolism is dependent on water
to work properly. Without enough water, the process of breaking food
down and converting it to energy slows down dramatically, which means
that too few calories are burnt and that too little weight is lost. Not
drinking enough water can be compared to “running of
fumes” and if you’re dieting and you seem to have
hit the plateau, then you are probably not drinking enough water. When
the metabolism slows down, weight loss slows down even more
dramatically, especially since exercising becomes less effective as the
body’s energy levels diminish.
Water also plays an important part in the process of digestion and
elimination of residues. Not drinking enough water is a one-way ticket
to constipation and a host of other problems of the intestines. Poor
digestion means that you will not get enough energy from the food
you’re eating. This will prompt the body to ask for more food
and this is how the weight loss process stops and the weight gain
process begins. A dehydrated body sends out fake hunger pangs, thus
tempting you to forget about the diet and eat more food than you should.
Not to mention that water is also a good filler. If you want to eat
less food, drink a tall glass of water half an hour before every meal.
The water will fill a large part of your stomach and the body will be
content to feel that the stomach is not empty. This is not idle
speculation, but a sound advice whose effectiveness can be confirmed by
many dietitians and weight loss experts. Nobody can overeat with half
of the stomach filled with water and with the body telling him/her:
“Seems like we’re almost full. We don’t
need that much food, so cut it short this evening”.
Keep in mind that in order to reap the benefits of drinking enough
water, you will want to spread the intake throughout the day.
Don’t drink 2 liters of water all at once because the body
will simply flush the excess and a lot of it will simply be wasted.
Also, you don’t need to restrict yourself to water. Fruit
juices, weak tea and coffee count as liquids that can be used by the
body for hydration. Alcohol is out of the question, because alcohol has
the opposite effect on the body. And, ladies, don’t be afraid
that drinking a lot of water will make you retain it. It’s
dehydration, not abundance, which forces the body to hang on to what it
has.
Can
water help you lose weight?
Many people are very skeptical of the suggestion
that water can play very effective role in helping them achieve weight
loss. Very few people realize that a large proportion of our body is
water. Naturally it plays a very important part in our existence. 75%
of the lean muscle tissues are water, over 80% of blood is water, body
fat and bones account for over 20% of water each. Is it surprising then
that water plays a very important role in how our bodies function?
Of course, drinking water alone is not going to help you lose weight.
If you desire to lose weight in a gradual but sure way, eating right
and drinking right are the two major components of the natural weight
loss method.
Water plays two important roles in helping you
lose weight. Cravings for food are felt when the body dehydrates; if
water is consumed in reasonable and adequate measure it suppresses
hunger pangs. Liver provides stored fats for energy; water helps
metabolism allowing kidneys to flush out waste. Many people will find
it surprising that drinking cold water can burn the extra fat in the
body; if you drink ice cold water it uses over 60 calories a day from
the body – thus the body has to burn over 420 calories a week
to raise the temperature of the ice cold water to the body temperature.
What a way to beat that excess fat!
As we see here water plays an important role in you lose weight; it is
a natural appetite suppressant, it helps in dieting and generally a
major component in natural weight loss practice.
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