Can water—that has sustained life on Earth like an elixir for millions of years—be effective in the fight against obesity that continues to spread like an epidemic, triggering a litany of lifestyle illnesses, including diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease? Going by several studies, the answer seems to be in the affirmative. In fact, drinking an extra volume of waterbefore meals as a dieting technique has been known for quite long—recent studies have only reinforced its effectiveness as a weight-loss strategy.
Firstly, staying hydrated by drinking enough water can help you avoid overeating. Limited intake of water can force you to mistake thirst for hunger; so you end up eating more when you body is actually craving for water. For example, if you feel like having a midday snack, it makes sense to first have a glass of water and wait for half an hour. If the craving for food is caused by limited intake of water, it will disappear within that time. In other words, if you keep staying hydrated, you are less likely to fall prey to the false sense of hunger.
In fact, your appetite is clearly reduced when you consume an extra dose ofwater just before meals. According to a study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17228036, drinking a couple of glasses of water before meal has led to a significant reduction in the food intake in the case of middle aged or older people who said they experienced a sense of ‘fullness’ and were less hungry than before drinking water. The study also showed that drinking water before each meal is likely to enhance weight loss by 2 kg over a 12-week period.
According to another study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18589036,water consumed before meals has resulted in a 13 per cent reduction in the amount of calories consumed during the meal among non-obese older adults. The reduction in the amount of calories consumed in turn has led to weight loss over a few weeks. Studies http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25928232 have also shown that drinking an extra amount of water is linked to a fall in the intake of calories consumed and a reduced risk of weight gain and that substitution of sugar-sweetened beverages with waterhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25746935 is associated with lower energy intake and lower weight gain in the long-term, especially in childrenhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19336356 as water is calorie–free compared with sugar-sweetened beverages that are high in sugar and calories.
A study among overweight women http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18787524 showed that increasing water intake to over 1 liter per day can lead to a 2 kg of weight loss in a 12-month period. Another studyhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25097411 has shown that drinking 1-1.5 liters of water daily for a few weeks can lead to reduction in fat, body waist circumference and body mass index (BMI).
Also, drinking cold water is found to be more effective in reducing weight since your body uses extra calories to warm the water to match your body temperature when you consume cold water.
How much water you should drink
It is commonly suggested that an adult should drink six-eight glasses of water(about 2 liters) per day. However, this is not supported by scientific studies. In fact, how much water you should drink is decided by your age, nature of work, amount of physical activity, whether you are sick or not and, in case of women, if you are pregnant or not.
The intake of water is also influenced by the prevailing climate—for example, you will feel more thirsty during summer than winter. During summer, your body tries to adjust the temperature by expanding sweat glands under skin which leads to excessive formation of sweat and more loss of water from the body. On the other hand, during winter, since the loss of water from the body through sweating is minimal, you don’t feel like drinking water too often. In other words, the water your body contains is extracted faster by the sun during summer and in winter extraction of water is less.
Also, there are differences in the way people sweat—while some sweat profusely, there are others who don’t sweat at all. Naturally, those who sweat more need to substitute the loss of water from their body by drinking watermore often. Besides, if you are doing tough exercises or engaged in vigorous activities, you require more water than normal.
In addition, water intake is decided by the amount of dehydration. For example, bad mood, headache and inability to concentrate on what you are doing can be symptoms of dehydration. Though these symptoms your body is alerting you to drink more water and you ought to listen to your body.
It should also be noted that the amount of water you drink is in addition to thewater absorbed by your body from food, especially fruits and vegetables, as well as beverages such as coffee and tea.
As a rule of thumb, it is better to drink water when you are thirsty and drink enough till thirst is quenched. As the second rule, your water intake should be regulated based on the color of your urine which should be ideally mild yellow. If your urine is deep yellow in color, that means you need to drink more water.
Drinking water also means you should not be drinking something else—such as sugar-laden, high-calorie and carbonated beverages, including soda and sports drinks. In fact, the rising risk of obesity among children is contributed by the fad of drinking high-calorie sugar-filled beverages or juice whenever they are thirsty instead of plain water. Since water is 100 per cent calorie-free, it helps you burn more calories. So when you replace sugary beverages withwater, you are actually cutting back on sugar and calories.
Drinking beverages that contain fructose can especially nullify your efforts to reduce weight. This is the reason why many people struggle to cut flag even after trying a mix of weight-lose strategies—avoiding fat and counting calories, among others.
Soda can also be harmful because when you drink soda you are unknowingly consuming a lot of sugar in the form of corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup, which is a main ingredient in soda. Fructose also contributes to formation of adipose fat that collects in the abdominal region and is linked to the risk of heart disease.
Bottled or canned commercial juices are bad because they liberate methanol, which is metabolized to formaldehyde—a neurotoxin that affects memory, learning and behavior—in your brain.
Fruit juice too can sabotage your efforts to cut eight. It contains high concentrations of fructose and can induce spikes in insulin in your body which in turn will lead to a sudden fall in sugar level in your bloodstream, prompting you to eat more.
It is yet to be clearly ascertained if water is simply filling your stomach, making you feel full or boosting metabolism by helping the body produce more heat or reducing the amount of extra calories you may otherwise have consumed by drinking sugary beverages. Bu recent studies show that while water does not have any peculiar property that burns fat and reduce weight, its consumption is directly correlated to weight loss.
According to physician Fereydoon Batmanghelidj who authored ‘Your Body’s Many Cries for Water’, the implication of not drinking enough water goes beyond weight loss. Limited water intake can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome and depression to hypertension, multiple sclerosis and asthma.
So, if you are seriously concerned about overweight and obesity that lead to increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, water is perhaps the magic potion that can help you burn the extra flab around your waist and in the process make you healthier.
Firstly, staying hydrated by drinking enough water can help you avoid overeating. Limited intake of water can force you to mistake thirst for hunger; so you end up eating more when you body is actually craving for water. For example, if you feel like having a midday snack, it makes sense to first have a glass of water and wait for half an hour. If the craving for food is caused by limited intake of water, it will disappear within that time. In other words, if you keep staying hydrated, you are less likely to fall prey to the false sense of hunger.
In fact, your appetite is clearly reduced when you consume an extra dose ofwater just before meals. According to a study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17228036, drinking a couple of glasses of water before meal has led to a significant reduction in the food intake in the case of middle aged or older people who said they experienced a sense of ‘fullness’ and were less hungry than before drinking water. The study also showed that drinking water before each meal is likely to enhance weight loss by 2 kg over a 12-week period.
According to another study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18589036,water consumed before meals has resulted in a 13 per cent reduction in the amount of calories consumed during the meal among non-obese older adults. The reduction in the amount of calories consumed in turn has led to weight loss over a few weeks. Studies http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25928232 have also shown that drinking an extra amount of water is linked to a fall in the intake of calories consumed and a reduced risk of weight gain and that substitution of sugar-sweetened beverages with waterhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25746935 is associated with lower energy intake and lower weight gain in the long-term, especially in childrenhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19336356 as water is calorie–free compared with sugar-sweetened beverages that are high in sugar and calories.
A study among overweight women http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18787524 showed that increasing water intake to over 1 liter per day can lead to a 2 kg of weight loss in a 12-month period. Another studyhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25097411 has shown that drinking 1-1.5 liters of water daily for a few weeks can lead to reduction in fat, body waist circumference and body mass index (BMI).
Also, drinking cold water is found to be more effective in reducing weight since your body uses extra calories to warm the water to match your body temperature when you consume cold water.
How much water you should drink
It is commonly suggested that an adult should drink six-eight glasses of water(about 2 liters) per day. However, this is not supported by scientific studies. In fact, how much water you should drink is decided by your age, nature of work, amount of physical activity, whether you are sick or not and, in case of women, if you are pregnant or not.
The intake of water is also influenced by the prevailing climate—for example, you will feel more thirsty during summer than winter. During summer, your body tries to adjust the temperature by expanding sweat glands under skin which leads to excessive formation of sweat and more loss of water from the body. On the other hand, during winter, since the loss of water from the body through sweating is minimal, you don’t feel like drinking water too often. In other words, the water your body contains is extracted faster by the sun during summer and in winter extraction of water is less.
Also, there are differences in the way people sweat—while some sweat profusely, there are others who don’t sweat at all. Naturally, those who sweat more need to substitute the loss of water from their body by drinking watermore often. Besides, if you are doing tough exercises or engaged in vigorous activities, you require more water than normal.
In addition, water intake is decided by the amount of dehydration. For example, bad mood, headache and inability to concentrate on what you are doing can be symptoms of dehydration. Though these symptoms your body is alerting you to drink more water and you ought to listen to your body.
It should also be noted that the amount of water you drink is in addition to thewater absorbed by your body from food, especially fruits and vegetables, as well as beverages such as coffee and tea.
As a rule of thumb, it is better to drink water when you are thirsty and drink enough till thirst is quenched. As the second rule, your water intake should be regulated based on the color of your urine which should be ideally mild yellow. If your urine is deep yellow in color, that means you need to drink more water.
Drinking water also means you should not be drinking something else—such as sugar-laden, high-calorie and carbonated beverages, including soda and sports drinks. In fact, the rising risk of obesity among children is contributed by the fad of drinking high-calorie sugar-filled beverages or juice whenever they are thirsty instead of plain water. Since water is 100 per cent calorie-free, it helps you burn more calories. So when you replace sugary beverages withwater, you are actually cutting back on sugar and calories.
Drinking beverages that contain fructose can especially nullify your efforts to reduce weight. This is the reason why many people struggle to cut flag even after trying a mix of weight-lose strategies—avoiding fat and counting calories, among others.
Soda can also be harmful because when you drink soda you are unknowingly consuming a lot of sugar in the form of corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup, which is a main ingredient in soda. Fructose also contributes to formation of adipose fat that collects in the abdominal region and is linked to the risk of heart disease.
Bottled or canned commercial juices are bad because they liberate methanol, which is metabolized to formaldehyde—a neurotoxin that affects memory, learning and behavior—in your brain.
Fruit juice too can sabotage your efforts to cut eight. It contains high concentrations of fructose and can induce spikes in insulin in your body which in turn will lead to a sudden fall in sugar level in your bloodstream, prompting you to eat more.
It is yet to be clearly ascertained if water is simply filling your stomach, making you feel full or boosting metabolism by helping the body produce more heat or reducing the amount of extra calories you may otherwise have consumed by drinking sugary beverages. Bu recent studies show that while water does not have any peculiar property that burns fat and reduce weight, its consumption is directly correlated to weight loss.
According to physician Fereydoon Batmanghelidj who authored ‘Your Body’s Many Cries for Water’, the implication of not drinking enough water goes beyond weight loss. Limited water intake can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome and depression to hypertension, multiple sclerosis and asthma.
So, if you are seriously concerned about overweight and obesity that lead to increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, water is perhaps the magic potion that can help you burn the extra flab around your waist and in the process make you healthier.
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