Can Drinking More Water Help You Lose Weight?

If you don't drink enough water, you can easily become dehydrated. There are many people who are in a chronic state of dehydration. Since about two thirds of the human body is composed of water, this can't be a good thing. Problems can include kidney stones, a toxic buildup and much more.

Researchers recently found that adults who were chronically dehydrated, had a higher body mass index (BMI) and were more likely to be obese, as compared to well-hydrated adults. The theory why, is that they may mistake being thirsty for being hungry.

A BMI of 25 is considered overweight and a BMI of 30 is considered obese. Those individuals in the study that were considered sufficiently hydrated, had an average BMI of 28. Those who were considered dehydrated, had an average BMI of 29.

While this study does not prove drinking more water will help you lose weight, it does suggest staying well-hydrated is associated with slightly lower body weight.

How Can Drinking Water Help To Lose Weight?

There are a number of factors that may contribute to weight loss brought about by a greater consumption of water.

Studies Have Shown that Drinking Water May:

1. Reduce your calorie intake - If you drink more water, you're less likely to drink other calorie containing beverages, such as soda, fruit juices and energy drinks. Research suggests that replacing other beverages with pure water, typically lowers your overall caloric intake by about 9%, or 200 calories a day.

2. Reduce your appetite - This effect has only been shown to hold true in older subjects. Drinking water before meals had no measurable effect when studied in children.

In a 2010 study, adults who drank a half liter of water prior to each meal, lost an additional 4.4 pounds over three months, as compared to the non pre-meal water drinking group.

3. Increase your resting energy expenditure - This means that you are increasing your metabolic rate.

In one study, adults who drank a half liter of water, increased their metabolic rate by 24 and 30% in two separate studies. The metabolic rate began to rise within the first 10 minutes and peaked around 30 to 40 minutes later.

How Much Water Should You Drink?

Water requirements are very individual and can vary from day to day, depending on your age, height, weight, activity level, environmental temperature and humidity.

You Can Use these Criteria:

1. Feelings of thirst. Once your body has lost between 1 - 2% percent of its total water content, you will start to feel thirsty. This thirst reflex tends to be underdeveloped in children and can be compromised in older adults. A level of dehydration of 2%, can cause a 10% decrease in athletic performance.

2. The color of your urine - Your urine should be a light yellow color. Dark-colored urine is a sign of dehydration. Vitamin B2 might throw this test off, since it will turn urine a bright yellow.

3. Frequency of urination - A healthy person urinates on average about seven or eight times a day. If you are urinating less than that, you may be dehydrated.

5 Signs & Symptoms of Dehydration:

1. Fatigue, chills, dizziness or mood swings

2. Muscle cramping, back aches or joint aches

3. Headaches

4. Dry skin or pronounced wrinkles

5. Constipation

Too Much Water Has Its Own Risks:

While most people don't drink enough water for optimal health, too much water also has its risks. You don't want to overdo it. Excessive amounts of water can cause your sodium level to drop to a dangerously low level, causing hyponatremia, which is a condition where your cells get waterlogged and swell. While most cells can handle this swelling, your brain cells cannot and can cause brain swelling.

12 Symptoms of Hyponatremia :

1. Confusion

3. Decreased consciousness; possible coma

3. Hallucinations

4. Convulsions

5. Fatigue

6. Headache

7. Irritability

8. Loss of appetite

9. Muscle spasms, cramps or weakness

10. Nausea

11. Restlessness

12. Vomiting

Most people have heard that you should drink eight, eight ounce glasses of water a day, or to drink the number of ounces a day of water, calculated by taking your body weight in pounds and dividing by two.

Nobody quite knows how these two formulas came about, but using the above criteria, makes more sense.

If you have any medical condition, this may impact your water requirements, which you should discuss with your physician.

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