Lose Weight with Water

This article about how to Lose weight by drinking water has been forwarded to us by the editorial team at TotallyDrinkable.com.

With the human body composed of approximately 60% water, it's easy to see why water is not only essential to life, but can also play an important role in helping you to lose weight.

The sensation of thirst is often mistaken for hunger, causing many people to eat when they should be drinking water instead. Some academics argue this may be one of the reasons for the world's growing obesity epidemic. Increasing water intake along with a healthy low calorie diet will produce more favourable results in people who are trying to lose weight. Some dietary experts recommend drinking a glass of water in place of a snack to help curb hunger pangs and reduce food cravings.

Getting enough water to drink isn't very difficult. Most fruits and vegetables contain substantial amounts of water, and every fluid that you drink, including coffee, tea and alcohol are sources of water. Outside of the home, most offices and factories have water coolers to give employees a readily available water source.

How much water should you drink to help you lose weight?

This leads to the important question of water intake. How much water should you drink? Is there an optimum level to help you lose weight? Can you drink too much water?

We often hear that people need to drink eight 8 oz glasses of water every day to be healthy, but opinions differ about the accuracy of this rule. Because every person is different, everybody's water needs are also different.

Your lifestyle and location greatly influence the amount of water that needs to be consumed on a daily basis. Active people and those who live in hot locations naturally require more water than people in cooler locations who lead a more sedate lifestyle.

It is now generally accepted that water consumption is related to weight loss. Weight loss experts say that because hunger and thirst give off similar signals, people often eat when what they really need is a drink of water. People who are trying to lose weight are urged to drink more water, and to drink water when they feel hungry instead of reaching for a snack.

The human body loses approximately 2.5 litres (10.5 cups) of water per day through respiration, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. Therefore, this is approximately the amount of water that needs to be replaced. Someone who eats a healthy diet that includes moisture-rich fruits and vegetables may only need to consume about 2 litres of water to replace lost fluids. 2 litres is approximately 67 oz, which makes the 8x8 rule (64 oz) reasonably accurate.

It's important to note that drinking glasses of water isn't the only way to obtain water. The necessary 2 litres of water can include all of the fluids that are consumed in a day, including coffee, tea, soft drinks and even alcoholic drinks. So, sipping several cups of tea or coffee throughout the workday is still beneficial. Such drinks should not be used to entirely replace water in the diet, but as a supplemental source of fluid to go alongside the water that you drink. Also, keep in mind that water is calorie-free and other drinks may contain high levels of sugar or artificial flavours, colours and other substances that can be unhealthy, leading to weight gain. Even diet drinks are not always ideal as some contain these substances, and many of them contain aspartame, an artificial sweetener that has been linked to weight gain.

Can you drink too much water?

Is there truth to the fear of some people that you could die if you drink too much water? Although there is no simple answer to this question, it is unlikely that drinking too much water could really kill you. However, there is a certain condition known as water intoxication, which occurs when a person does drink too much water and his body does not have the proper sodium level that can work to balance his or her water intake. Medically termed as hyponatremia, this condition is associated more with the ratio between salt and water in the body than with a person's water intake.

Without getting into the technicalities of what happens to the body's cells when hyponatremia occurs, it's helpful to be aware of the general concept. If you are the kind of person who is conscious about eating a balanced and healthy diet, then you are almost certainly at no risk of developing hyponatremia. This is because a balanced diet should only contain a moderate level of sodium that will not put you at risk for contracting the condition.

If you are still worried about whether you are drinking too much or too little water, you should ask your doctor how much water you as an individual should drink every day. Your doctor will calculate this, based predominantly on your current weight.

Once again, we would like to thank the team at TotallyDrinkable.com for this article. Please follow these links if you would like more information about water purifiers or water filters.