How Can Drinking Water Help You Lose Weight

Last updated on : October 23 2021

Can Drinking Water Help You Lose Weight?

Drinking more water can aid in weight loss, but is it effective?

Although no one is saying that sipping water before bed will make you lose weight, research has shown that it plays a vital role in weight loss. 

Sixty percent of your body is made up of this calorie-free liquid, and studies show that staying hydrated can boost your body's efficiency at doing everything from thinking to burning calories.

There are a variety of ways water can promote weight loss. Some of these ways include suppressing hunger, increasing metabolism, and making exercise more manageable and more effective.

Aside from the factors, behaviors, and predispositions that may affect your weight, hydrating may be the first step towards achieving long-term weight loss.

Be sure to speak to your doctor first before trying to lose weight. When your doctor says you can lose weight, here's what you need to know about drinking water and how much you should drink to get this effect? 

What Does Water Have To Do With Losing Weight?

When your body metabolism enhances, your body uses the energy to burn excess fat. Water helps you to improve your body metabolism and also lowers your hunger pangs. 

There are numerous studies conducted in 2013 that back this theory. 

Under one study, researchers observed that people who follow a strict diet plan to maintain or lose weight could improve the impact by increasing their daily water intake.

Here's how drinking water can aid in losing excess weight:

1. You Feel Fuller After Drinking Water

If you drink water before every meal, you may eat less food, which could aid your weight loss efforts. 

When the stomach reaches fullness, it sends a signal to the brain to stop eating. Drinking water helps create a feeling of fullness and reduces hunger by taking up space in the stomach.

You might also think you are hungry when you are thirsty. You can curb unnecessary snacking by drinking a glass of water before getting a snack.

Water consumption before meals may increase weight loss by 4.4 lbs over 12 weeks among older adults. 

Researchers found that overweight and obese middle-aged people who drank water before every meal reduced their weight by 44 percent compared to those who didn't.

Water drinking before breakfast also reduced calorie consumption by 13 percent, according to another study. 

However, in studies of younger people, calorie intake did not reduce at the same impressive rate as middle-aged patients or older individuals.

 2. You May Burn Fat When You Drink Water

It is your body's natural process to burn fat and convert it to energy - the process is called lipolysis, and it requires plenty of water. 

According to a 2016 review of animal studies published in Frontiers in Nutrition, drinking more water can increase lipolysis, the body's way of burning fat for energy. 

There is no precise mechanism behind this, but mild dehydration reduces lipolysis, possibly driven by hormones. Animal studies also suggested that water affects fat metabolism by expanding cell volume. It has yet to be proven in humans.

It is essential to drink an adequate amount of water as it helps burn stored and recently consumed fat.

3. You Can Reduce Your Liquid x Consumption

The consumption of soda, juice, sweetened coffee or tea can accumulate liquid calories. 

The number of calories present in sports drinks and alcoholic beverages is also largely ignored by most people. Water or herbal tea may be more effective for weight loss than even a few high-calorie drinks per day. 

Therefore, you can replace those high-calorie beverages with some water and decrease your daily liquid calorie intake. 

In a 2012 study, authors found that a group of obese women losing 2 to 2.5 percent of their body weight by replacing two or more high-calorie beverages with non-caloric drinks every day for six months achieved a weight loss of 2 to 2.5%. 

Study participants in a 24-week weight loss program consumed 250 mL of water every day after lunch during a 2015 study. Their weight loss was 13.6% higher than women who consumed the same quantity of diet beverages after lunch in the same program.

An extensive study found that people who replaced one serving of sweetened beverages with water or low-calorie drinks every day for four years gained 0.49 fewer kilograms than those who did not make any changes.

4. You Can Boost Your Metabolism By Drinking Water

Our bodies utilize more energy to warm up water when we drink cold water. This whole process is called thermogenesis, and it indirectly helps burn more calories. 

Therefore, it would be a smart move to increase your cold water intake throughout the day to lessen calories and eventually lose weight. 

In 2013 a small study was conducted on 50 girls for eight weeks. These girls were overweight. They were given half-liter water 30 minutes before each meal—the results have shown a significant decline in their BMIs and weight. 

 5. Water Helps Eliminate Waste From The Body

Dehydration impairs the body's ability to eliminate waste as urine or feces properly. 

While it aids in filtering toxins and wastes, water also keeps kidneys hydrated and preserves essential nutrients and electrolytes. A dehydrated body retains fluid in the kidneys. 

In addition to hard stools, constipation may also result from dehydration. Water softens or loosens hardened stools to keep waste moving.

Besides helping the body recover from digestive problems, such as diarrhea and indigestion, water is also an antioxidant. 

People may feel tired, bloated, and swollen when waste builds up in the body. Bloating can increase a person's waistline by a few inches. Staying hydrated can help reduce weight gain by preventing the buildup of waste.

6. You'll Get More Out Of Your Exercise And Workouts

Exercise is a critical component of any weight loss plan. Water facilitates the movement of muscles, connective tissues, and joints. Also, it boosts the capacity of the lungs, heart, and other organs during exercise.

Hydration can help prevent muscle cramps and fatigue, which can interfere with a good workout. 

During and after exercise, you should drink water to avoid dehydration. While exercising in hot or humid conditions, keeping water close at hand is essential.

How Much Water Is Enough For A Day?

Approximately 60 percent of your body is made up of water. 

Through urine and sweat and from normal body functions like breathing, the body constantly loses water throughout the day. 

It is important to drink and eat plenty of water every day to prevent dehydration. However, the amount of water that you should be drinking every day varies according to different opinions. 

A standard recommendation is to drink eight glasses of water per day, about 2 liters or half a gallon.

Even if you are not thirsty, you should sip water throughout the day, as many experts suggest. However, water consumption is determined by several internal and external factors.

Water needs for men and women also differ; women need 11.5 cups a day, and for men, 15.5 cups a day. 

Drinking Water Has Many Benefits

All of the body's systems depend on water, including:

• Your cells receive nutrients and oxygen from the blood
• It helps eliminate bacteria from the bladder
• helps digestion
• Keeps blood pressure in control
• Normalize heartbeat
• cushioning joints
• protects organs and tissues
• regulates body temperature
• maintains sodium balance

If you provide your body with enough fluids, you'll stay hydrated.

Tips For Drinking More Water 

Listed below are some tips to increase your daily water intake: 

• It would help if you drank a glass of water before going to bed and when you wake up. Make sure to keep a glass handy at your side table.
• Keep your reusable water bottle full of water all the time and carry it with you everywhere.
• Tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelons contain a high amount of water. It would help if you introduced these in your daily diet plan.  
• Drink more water instead of soda or sugary drinks.
• When it is humid or sweltering, drink more water.
• Use your phone as a reminder to drink water throughout the day. There are many apps too which alert you to drink water at set intervals. 

Conclusion

Losing weight is possible with water. If consumed before meals, it reduces your appetite and burns fat. 

Additionally, water has several weight loss benefits. Drinking it before you eat helps you eat less food because it acts as a natural appetite suppressant. It also assists your body in removing waste. 

A simple way to lose weight is to drink more water.

However, if you are trying to lose a substantial amount of weight, you'll need to do far more than drink water.

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