Drinking more water has many benefits. It can be the quicker-picker-upper to boost your energy when it gets low. That’s because even mild dehydration can cause you to feel tired and fuzzy-brained. Your body needs water to function properly. Your brain, lungs, and heart are 70 to 90% water. Water can help ease achy joints by increasing the synovial fluid that lubricates the joints. You may have heard of water weight, but it’s not water but the lack of water that causes it. Water can help you lose weight.
Drinking water instead of soft drinks can help you lose weight immediately.
Each time you drink an 8-ounce soft drink, you consume approximately 100+ calories. Switching to water instead can save a lot over a few months. If you have a 3500-calorie deficit, you lose a pound. If you drink two to three 8-ounce glasses of cola daily, that’s an extra 200 to 300 calories. In 12 to 18 weeks, you would lose a pound without doing anything else. Don’t think about switching to diet drinks. Studies show that people who drink diet soft drinks have a bigger waist circumference. That means they have more belly fat—visceral fat. It’s the most difficult type to lose.
Drinking more water can help you lose water weight.
Too much sodium and too little water is one cause of water weight. The body tries to dilute the sodium and it retains water. Drinking more water normalizes the amount of sodium and acts as a diuretic to flush out excess fluid. Dehydration can cause water weight gain. The body hoards the water in case there’s a need to keep vital organs functioning. Drinking more water flushes the body of excess water.
Drink water before a meal and make it ice-cold water.
If you drink a glass of water a half hour before a meal, studies show that it cuts your appetite so you eat less. Drinking ice-cold water is even better. It boosts your metabolism by 30% for an hour and a half. One study showed that drinking two liters of water a day increased metabolism enough to burn an extra 96 calories a day without making any other changes to diet. One study showed that people who drink a glass of water before a meal eat 75 fewer calories. That’s 225 a day.
- If you’re hungry, you might be thirsty instead. Sometimes, the body sends mixed signals to the brain. Before you eat something, drink a glass of water first to see if the hunger diminishes.
- You’ll get a more productive workout by drinking more water. Mild dehydration can drag you down and interfere with your performance. Drink 8 ounces an hour before exercising and sip on it throughout your workout.
- Mild dehydration can slow your metabolism and the body’s fat-burning process. It affects hormone production and causes cells to expand. Both of those things diminish fat burning.
- The older you are, the more difficult it becomes to stay hydrated. Frequent UTIs, aching joints, or signs of mental confusion may be mild dehydration in seniors. Dehydration signs mimic senility.
For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio