How Drinking More Water Helps You Lose Weight  

Introduction

Water is an essential medium in life, and without it, human beings won’t exist. Do you sometimes feel your body running out of water or getting dehydrated? Or maybe you feel fewer cravings and fuller after drinking one or two glasses of water?

You probably have an idea of the health benefits of keeping yourself hydrated, including glowing skin, improved focus, better mood, and overall good health. Many people believe that water can help the body lose weight, and that’s what you’ll be reading about and more below.

Water Hydrates Your Body

Did you know that your brain could sometimes think that you’re hungry, when you’re actually thirsty? Dripdrop.com explains that a dehydrated body would send a signal to the nervous system that a person needs to eat, whereas you really only have to replenish water from your body and get hydrated.

So, when you tend to eat instead of drinking, you gain weight. But when you drink water first, your thirst will be satisfied and so is your hunger. That’s why staying hydrated at all times is essential, not just to help lose or maintain your ideal body weight, but also for survival.

Here’s how to ensure that you keep your body hydrated throughout the day:

• • Bring a bottle of water at work or anywhere you go during the day. You don’t have to buy a bottle of water every time. Save money by carrying a reusable water bottle filled with tap or mineral water.
  • Drink more water when performing intense physical activities, preferably before, during, and after exercise or training.
  • You can add lime or a slice of lemon to your drink if you don’t want the taste of plain water. If you prefer juices, make sure to take natural or homemade juices from fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than commercial juices because they are high in sugar.
  • Drink water if you feel hungry to satisfy true hunger or hunger brought about by dehydrated cells in the body.
  • Create a water drinking schedule if you have problems remembering to drink water. For instance, make it a habit to drink water when you wake up early in the morning, at breakfast, break time, lunch, dinner, and before bedtime. Set up some alarms to keep you reminded or drinking a small glass of water each hour.

Water Suppresses Appetite

According to a trusted source, water is considered a natural appetite suppressant. The nerves in the stomach senses that it’s full, sending signals to your brain to stop eating. Also, water takes up space in your stomach, which leads to reduced hunger and a feeling of fullness.

In a report presented at the American Chemistry of Society meeting, clinical trial confirms the effectiveness of water in appetite control. Brenda Davy, Ph.D., the senior author of the study, presented the results of the randomized controlled intervention trial, which demonstrated that increased water intake is an effective method of losing weight.

Here are the findings of the said study:

• • Middle-aged adults and older people subjected to the clinical trial who drank two cups of water before eating had taken between 75 and 90 fewer calories.
  • In 12 weeks, those who drank more water before meals, about three times per day have lost about five pounds more than those who didn’t increase their water intake.

According to Dr Brenda Davy, people should drink more water every day and less on sugary, high-calorie drinks to help facilitate weight management. Water is effective because it fills up space in your stomach and has zero calories. That’s why you feel fuller and eat less food that contains high calories during a meal. You can lose weight if you drink more water in place of soda or other sweetened calorie-containing beverages.

Drinking More Water Prevents Dehydration

Dehydration happens when your body uses or lose more fluid or water than it takes in. If you don’t have adequate water intake, the fluid and electrolytes in your body become out of balance, which affects carrying out its normal functions, including metabolism or how your body converts the food you eat into energy.

That’s why one telltale sign that you’re dehydrated is if you feel more hungry than usual, most especially after intense physical activity, like post-workout. The other signs and symptoms of dehydration include extreme thirst, dark-colored urine, dizziness, fatigue, less frequent urination, and confusion.

Drinking more water every day is one way to prevent dehydration caused by water depletion during a workout or any physical activity, as well as fever, diarrhea, increased urination, and excessive sweating. Also, it helps you lose weight because of the water’s natural appetite suppressant effect. Aside from helping with weight management, staying hydrated also help prevent heat injury, seizures, urinary and kidney problems, and shock caused by a low volume of blood.

Check out the following tips to help prevent dehydration:

• • For early warning signs of dehydration, provide water and oral rehydration solution or ORS immediately. Don’t delay to avoid complications.
  • Eat more fruits and vegetables that are high in water content, such as watermelon, cucumber, broccoli, tomatoes, spinach, apples, and oranges.
  • Start hydrating your body the day before intense physical activity or exercise. During the activity, make sure to replenish fluids in your body at regular intervals. Continue drinking water after exercise. Aside from water, you can also drink other fluids, preferably with low sugar content.
  • Drink more water when the weather is hot or humid. By doing so, it will help lower your body temperature. Also, it replaces the fluids you lose via sweating. In cold weather or during winter, drinking water helps the loss of moisture from dry air, most especially at higher altitudes
  • When you’re sick, your body becomes dehydrated even with minor illnesses, so make sure to hydrate your body by drinking extra fluids.

Conclusion

Feel more fuller and satisfy true hunger by drinking more water throughout the day. Water has zero calories, filling up space in your stomach to reduce thirst and hunger.

Drinking more water won’t only help you lose and maintain your ideal body weight. Staying hydrated will also help you avoid dehydration and its life-threatening complications.

Attain good overall health by replenishing loss fluids inside the body by making drinking more water every day a habit.

About Theresa Duncan

Originally from Detroit, MI, Theresa has been offering health and fitness advice for the last 30 years while working as an engineer. She decided to turn her passion into a profession, and finds nothing more satisfying than helping others reach their health and fitness goals.