Does drinking water really help you lose weight?

If you’re trying to lose a few pounds, you’ve probably started hitting the gym, eating healthier, reducing stress, and getting enough sleep. But did you know drinking more water can also help you slim down? Well, this clear, calorie-free liquid not only quenches your thirst but can also help you lose weight.

Does drinking water really help you lose weight?

We’re not saying you’ll wake up lighter just by drinking more water. But research shows that the more water you drink, the better your results on the scale. This study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition stated: “Increased water consumption, in addition to a weight loss or weight maintenance program, reduced body weight after 3–12 months”.

Water also helps improve important body functions such as digestion, circulation and calorie burning, all of which are essential for weight loss. Of course, factors such as health, behavior and genetics can affect your body weight. But if your goal is moderate weight loss over the long term, regular daily hydration can be a great place to start.

6 scientifically proven ways to drink water can help you lose weight 

Water can help boost your metabolism

Your body needs water to burn carbohydrates, stored fat, and fats from foods and drinks. Lipolysis, the process of breaking down fats, begins with hydrolysis. Hydrolysis occurs when water molecules interact with fats called triglycerides to produce fatty acids and glycerol. According to an eight-week study published in 2013, this process ultimately helps with weight control.

The study observed 50 young girls, who drank about two glasses of water 30 minutes before each meal without making other changes to their diet. And guess what? They lose weight, reduce body mass index and even improve body composition.

It’s quite simple. Drinking water, especially when chilled, can stimulate your body to produce more heat through thermogenesis. Your body has to work harder to warm cold water to match your body temperature, which requires energy. The more energy your body expends, the faster your metabolism (the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy.

However, don’t get too excited. The effects of thermogenesis are modest, meaning it will not cause a large calorie deficit to cause significant weight loss at least in the short term. But look on the bright side: every calorie you burn can contribute to weight loss when combined with a healthy diet and regular physical activity. Plus, staying hydrated provides many other great health benefits, such as the ones below.

Drinking water before meals can help prevent overeating

When you’re hungry, your first instinct may be to reach for something to eat. But sometimes, all you need is water. In some cases, the brain can mistake hunger for thirst, causing you to eat when you’re not hungry in the first place, according to Dr. Melina Jampolis, MD, an internist and nutritionist based in California. . And it makes sense: we often reach for food when our bodies need water, a habit that can lead to weight gain over time.

Researchers believe that drinking water before meals can help fill the space in our stomachs, creating a feeling of fullness. Naturally, this can reduce hunger and cause us to eat less. This explains why non-obese young men who drank two glasses of water right before meals in a small 2016 study ate 22% less than those who didn’t drink water before meals. Studies of older adults have shown that drinking water before each meal can help increase weight loss by 2 kg (4.4 lbs.) in 12 weeks.

You can naturally consume fewer calories by feeling satisfied with smaller portions. Additionally, eating water-rich foods, like watermelon, can also help you feel full. These foods are rich in soluble fiber, which slows digestion, helps lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels, thus keeping us full longer and promoting a healthier weight.

Water helps remove waste from the body

Water is important for healthy kidney function, responsible for filtering waste from the body and passing it out through mostly water-based urine. It also facilitates stool movement because water keeps stool soft. So the more water you drink, the easier it is for your body to remove wastes, toxins and metabolic byproducts from your body while retaining essential electrolytes and nutrients. weak.

But how does this relate to weight loss? Well, eliminating waste products keeps them from building up in the body, which can cause bloating, water retention, and weight gain. Furthermore, maintaining regular bowel movements can prevent feelings of heaviness and abdominal discomfort, improve your mood and overall health, and prepare your body for healthy weight loss.

Drinking water can improve exercise performance

During exercise, water dissolves electrolytes, including sodium, potassium and magnesium, and distributes them throughout the body. The electrical energy from these minerals activates muscle contractions necessary for movement.

In an article published on sportscardiologybc.org, dehydration is associated with “reduced blood volume, decreased blood flow through the skin, decreased rate of sweating, decreased heat dissipation, increased body temperature, and increased speed glycogen utilization.” It can also cause fatigue, drowsiness, cramps and muscle injuries.

On the other hand, staying hydrated will help maintain your blood volume, so blood vessels on the skin’s surface can expand more quickly to release heat. Otherwise, you could suffer from heat exhaustion or worse. Drinking enough water can also improve your workout by reducing muscle fatigue, allowing you to exercise longer and burn more calories. That’s why you need to stay hydrated before and throughout your workout, not just when you start to feel thirsty.

Drinking water can help reduce the calories in your fluids

For some people, there’s nothing more satisfying than gulping down a can of apple juice, soda, or iced tea on a hot day. While these sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) may seem like harmless hydrating liquids, they increase your calorie intake—something you should avoid if you’re trying to lose weight.

Since water is a zero-calorie drink, pouring H2O into your glass is a healthier alternative to those SSBs. To put it in perspective, choosing water over a standard 20-ounce soda (which typically contains 2.5 servings at 100 calories per serving) means you’ll drink 250 fewer calories. Unless you’re not making up for those calories throughout the day, these savings can help boost your weight loss.

Diet soda may seem like a great alternative to plain old water, but some people’s weight loss results may vary. For example, a 2015 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that overweight and obese women who replaced diet drinks with water after main meals lost significantly more weight during the program. weight loss program. However, the researchers noted that the additional weight loss in water drinkers may be due to consuming fewer calories and carbohydrates, but more research is needed.

If for some reason you find it difficult to drink water consistently, you can try replacing your regular drinks with “diet” drinks that typically contain less sugar and carbs. You can add slices of your favorite fruit to make your water more flavorful and refreshing.

Drinking water can improve mood and reduce stress

Dehydration is linked to higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that the body naturally produces. When you’re stressed, your adrenal glands release cortisol, which triggers the fight-or-flight response and temporarily stalls normal bodily functions while slowing your metabolism.

Cortisol helps stimulate fat and carbohydrate metabolism, creating abundant energy in your body. While this process is important for survival, it also increases your appetite and can cause cravings for sweet, fatty and salty foods. As a result, you’re more likely to want chips and milkshakes than a full meal. Furthermore, excess cortisol can lead to decreased testosterone. Not enough testosterone in the body can reduce muscle mass and hinder the number of calories your body burns.

Because your metabolism is responsible for converting food into energy, changes in the way this system works can have a variety of consequences. According to the American Psychological Association, these include weight gain, fatigue, depression, and health complications such as high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes. In addition, excessive weight gain caused by cortisol tends to tends to accumulate around the abdomen, linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, often referred to as “toxic fat.”

One large study found that people who regularly drank five or more glasses of water a day had a lower risk of depression and anxiety. People who consume less than two cups per day face double the risk. Although the link between water intake and stress is less clear, we know that feelings of depression and anxiety often go hand in hand, influencing each other.

However, this connection is not limited to adults. Even children who are especially susceptible to dehydration show a similar association between inadequate water intake and increased anxiety levels. Dehydration can also affect the quality of our sleep. You see, poor sleep can increase feelings of anxiety. When we don’t get enough quality rest, stress increases and dehydration can disrupt our sleep.

Other health benefits of drinking water

Drinking water has many other health benefits unrelated to weight loss. Let’s explore a few of them.

Helps control blood pressure: Too little water in the body can cause the blood to become thicker, constricting blood vessels and increasing blood pressure. At the same time, it can reduce your blood volume, which can lower your blood pressure. It’s a lose-lose situation. When your blood pressure drops too low, your tissues and organs don’t get the oxygen and nutrients they need, which can lead to shock, heart problems, brain damage, and more. Drinking plenty of water every day can help avoid unwanted and potentially deadly situations.

Enhances brain function: Proper hydration is also important for brain health. A study published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that drinking water can increase cognitive performance. Participants who drank water performed better and faster on cognitive tasks than those who did not drink enough water. Other studies have shown that even mild dehydration can negatively affect mood, concentration, memory, and overall brain function in people of all ages. Since you lose water through daily activities, you should stay hydrated to reduce your risk of these problems.

Promotes cardiovascular health: Your heart works around the clock to ensure enough oxygen reaches all of your cells. However, if there is not enough water in the body to support the heart 24/7, it can become exhausted. Studies show that dehydration causes low blood pressure and poor circulation, so the body has to constrict blood vessels and increase heart rate to try to circulate fluids faster to provide needed oxygen and nutrients. This can strain your heart and increase your risk of heart-related problems such as heart attack, stroke, and other serious conditions. The good news is that “maintaining good hydration can slow or even prevent changes inside the heart that lead to heart failure,” said study author Dr. Natalia Dmitrieva, a senior researcher at NHLBI. know in a press release.

Boost skin health: If you’re struggling with dry, itchy, flaky, and sagging skin, you might be blaming the skin care products you’ve recently used. But what if it has to do with your hydration levels? When dehydrated, your skin becomes susceptible to wrinkling, dryness, and other unwanted conditions. It can also worsen existing skin conditions such as acne and eczema.

However, Dr. Steven Deliduka, a board-certified dermatologist with Forefront Dermatology, says proper hydration levels plump the skin, improve elasticity, and make it smoother. Less prone to cracking, irritation and blemishes.

Once you are well hydrated, your kidneys kick in and excrete excess fluids and toxins from your body, cleaning your skin and keeping it beautiful. Proper hydration also helps lock in moisture in the skin for radiant, glowing skin.

How much water should you drink per day?

According to research, there is no one size fits all when it comes to your ideal water intake. It depends on many different factors such as your body size, physical activity level, the climate you are in and your diet. For example, if you spend time in hot weather or exercise intensely, you must drink more water to replenish what you lose through sweating.

Some experts recommend drinking half your body weight in ounces, which means if you weigh 200 pounds, you’ll be looking at about 100 ounces of water. And of course, there’s the classic advice to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. However, there is no scientific evidence that these recommendations apply to everyone.

So instead of driving yourself crazy with measuring cups and counting cups, start drinking water regularly throughout the day and pay attention to what your body is telling you. A 2020 study found that urine color is a reliable indicator of hydration levels in healthy adults. So, look into the basin every time you go to the toilet after urinating. According to this hydration chart, if your urine is amber or burnt orange, you are likely dehydrated and need to drink water. You’re in a good place if it’s pale yellow like lemonade or pale ale.

Then again, you don’t have to rely on just plain old water to quench your thirst. Just add a few slices of fresh fruit or a squeeze of lemon. Drinks like tea, milk, and smoothies can increase your hydration levels. It’s all about finding the perfect balance and keeping your body happy and hydrated.

Why drinking clean, uncontaminated water is key

In addition to body size, physical activity level, climate and diet, water quality is another important factor when planning how much to drink. Drinking unfiltered tap water exposes you to a range of potentially deadly contaminants, including:

• Lead
  
• Arsenic
  
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
  
• Disinfection Byproducts (DBP)
  
• Microplastics
  
• PFAS (Forever Chemicals)
  
• Microbial contamination
  
• Other contaminants

But don’t water treatment plants have to follow strict guidelines to ensure contaminants like these don’t end up in our drinking water? Absolute. But that doesn’t mean your drinking water won’t be contaminated.

As water travels to your home, it can absorb various contaminants through leaks, water main breaks, or otherwise and carry them to your drinking glass. Once ingested, these pollutants can cause various health problems, such as gastrointestinal diseases, neurological problems, reproductive problems, and others.

Bottled water: A safer alternative?

Some people may choose bottled water due to its taste, safety, accessibility and convenience. But according to the Minnesota Department of Health, “sometimes the water you can buy in bottles is simply public tap water that has been enhanced in some way, such as changing the mineral content.” Additionally, some bottled water may contain small pieces of plastic known as microplastics, which often contain bioactive chemicals such as Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates. Over time, these pieces of plastic can leach from the bottle into the water and into our bodies when we drink, increasing the risk of heart disease, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, prostate cancer, asthma, reproductive disorders and more.

A 2018 study tested 11 widely available bottled water products from nine countries, concluding that 93% of the 259 bottles sampled contained microplastics. This contamination is partly due to the packaging and bottling process.

And did we mention that only 12% of the 60 million water bottles used in the United States daily are recycled? The rest often ends up in landfills or oceans, where decomposition can take about 450 years.

So how do I make sure my tap water is safe to drink?

Filtering your water is the most effective way to remove potentially dangerous contaminants. How do you achieve this? By installing a premium water filtration system in your home.

Point-of-use (POU) water filtration

POU systems, such as our under-counter reverse osmosis filters , are typically attached to a single fixture, such as a kitchen sink, and only treat the water you use in the that specific mind. They are mainly used to filter the water you drink and use for cooking, mixing drinks, washing fruits and vegetables, and can run to the ice maker in the refrigerator. These filters use semi-permeable membranes and multiple filtration stages to produce high-quality drinking water.

Below is an excerpt of how an RO filter works:

• The process typically begins with pre-filters, typically sediment filters, which remove larger particles such as sand, dirt, rust and silt. Carbon pre-filters can reduce chemicals such as chlorine that can clog or damage RO membranes. (Learn how pre-filtration helps protect reverse osmosis membranes).
  
• The water then undergoes reverse osmosis, in which a semi-permeable membrane filters dissolved solids, heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, pesticides and pharmaceutical residues. The system discharges removed contaminants through the waste stream, which enters the sewer or is returned to the water supply system to be recycled through the RO system.
• Next, the water passes through a post-filter, often containing activated carbon, which further polishes the water by removing any remaining tastes, odors, and impurities.
  
• Finally, the filtered water flows to the storage tank. When the tank is full, the RO system will turn off.

Household water purifier

If you want clean, filtered water flowing throughout your home, installing a whole-house water filter is the way to go. Whole house filters are point of entry (POE) filters. That means they’re installed where the water first enters your home, treating every drop you use for drinking, cooking, bathing, brushing your teeth and doing laundry. They also protect your pipes and plumbing from corrosive contaminants.

Although many POE systems have different features and use different methods and technologies to filter water, the basic principle remains the same:

• Some whole house filters may include a pre-filter stage designed to remove larger particles such as sediment, debris and rust. Pre-filter helps protect the primary filter and enhances its efficiency.
  
• The water then enters the KDF layer containing a copper-zinc alloy medium, which helps reduce chlorine and other harmful contaminants, while also inhibiting the growth of algae and bacteria in the tank.
  
• In the next stage, the activated carbon filter traps and removes organic contaminants such as PFAS (PFOS and PFOA), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, herbicides, haloacetic acid (HAA), some heavy metals, etc. This process also improves the taste and smell of the water.
• After the water passes through the main filtration stage, some whole-house water filters may include an additional post-filtration step to further improve the quality of the filtered water before it reaches your faucets and fixtures. Some people may add a water softener and/or an ultraviolet (UV) filtration system for more thorough filtration. Water softeners remove hardness minerals like calcium and magnesium that are known to cause many problems in the home. UV purification kills bacteria, viruses, parasites and other potentially dangerous waterborne microbes.
  
• The now filtered water continues its journey through your home’s plumbing system. It is distributed to all faucets, showerheads, appliances and other water outlets in your home.

Thus, tap water can be contaminated with many potentially dangerous contaminants, even after being treated by the local water system. And the last thing you want to do is consume contaminated water on your health journey.

Filtering your water can remove toxic substances like lead, arsenic, microplastics, and other contaminants in unfiltered tap water. Springwell offers a premium line of high-quality water filtration systems equipped with advanced features and technology to remove a variety of contaminants from your water supply. That way, you can enjoy pure, refreshing water that supports your weight loss goals and promotes overall health.

See more: Buyer’s Guide to UV Water Purifiers 

To learn more about other powerful and unique water filtration systems distributed by Song Phung, order online at the website https://thietbinganhnuoc.com/san-pham or contact us on our hotline 0913.90.72.74 – 0984.620.494 for detailed services..

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