Do you know that if you've been depriving yourself from drinking water (lots of it), you may be missing out on an easy way to jump start your weight l...
Do you know that if you've been depriving yourself from drinking water (lots of it),
you may be missing out on an easy way to jump start your weight loss.
Yes people, drinking plain water may help you speed up your weight loss effort.
In fact, researchers found that if a person drank 17 ounces of water, he or she may be burning as much as 30% more calories than when those who didn't drink the water. The raised metabolic rate lasted, on average, for half an hour.
Increasing water intake obviously speeds up metabolism and enables your body to better digest nutrients from the foods and nutritional supplements you consume, the result being natural and healthy weight loss.
"What exactly is 'metabolism', anyway?" Merriam Webster defines it as, "The process by which a substance is handled in the body." A little unclear, but that's really all it means.
There are many forms of metabolism going on in your body right now, but the one everyone is talking about it the metabolism of fat. This is actually something that the liver does when it converts stored fat to energy. The liver has other functions, but this is one of its main jobs.
Unfortunately, another of the liver's duties is to pick up the slack for the kidneys, which need plenty of water to work properly. If the kidneys are water-deprived, the liver has to do their work along with its own, lowering its total productivity. It then can't metabolise fat as quickly or efficiently as it could when the kidneys were pulling their own weight. If you allow this to happen, not only are you being unfair to your liver, but you're also setting yourself up to store fat.
Natural, healthy weight loss can occur only by increasing one's intake of pure, healthy water. Water is not only the number-one ingredient for a healthy inner you, it also plays the lead role in maintaining a healthy and youthful appearance on the outside.
The quantity and the quality of the water we consume determine the body's ability to metabolize and shed excess fat and properly maintain the largest organ, the skin.
For the average person, experts suggest getting at least 64 ounces of water daily or eight 8-ounce glasses. If you are on a diet to lose weight, it is more important to consume more and keep drinking water throughout the day, unless you have any medical condition that doesn't allow much water intake.
A good guide for daily intake is to drink 1 ounce of water for every 2 pounds of body weight. A 200 pound person should be drinking around 100 ounces (12.5 cups) of water in order the gain the benefits of increased energy and metabolism.
If exercising is part of a weight loss program a bit more water should be included to account for water loss from sweating. Drinking water before, during and after exercise will keep energy levels high and help recovery after training.
Oh yes, just make sure that the water consumption is spread out throughout the day. It's not healthy at all to drink too much water at one time. Try to pick three or four times a day when you can have a big glass of water, and then sip in between.
Do whatever suits you, here. Just drink it!
