5. Water and Weight Loss

How much water do you drink each day and how much is enough? It is clinically accepted that an adult, on average, requires 2 litres (8 glasses) of water each day.  An overweight person requires 2 litres daily plus an extra glass for every 20 (10kg) pounds of excess weight - bigger bodies require more water  because they have more metabolic requirements.

A body without sufficient water intake doesn't function well, just like a dry, wilting plant - water it and you see a quick recovery.  The human body is 65%  water - that is 65% of your body weight is attributed to water( 2/3 held in the cells and 1/3 makes up blood and body fluids) and when we look at the role water plays you begin to appreciate why we need to drink an adequate amount and why water is important for our health. Lack of water leads to essential body functions being affected.

Water is responsible for these essential functions;

• Constituent of blood and all body fluids
• Constituent of every cell, tissue and organ
• Regulates body temperature.
• Lubricates and cushions the joints.
• Protects the spinal cord and other sensitive tissues.
• Gets rid of wastes through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements.

From a weight loss perspective, drinking water will make you feel fuller and swell any fibre contained in you meal.  It also increases your metabolism (rate at which your body burns calories) by 30%. Have a look at this interesting article;

"Despite the fact that most diets call for drinking at least eight, 8-ounce glasses of water a day, few studies have been done to determine if the practice actually speeds weight loss. In an effort to answer this question, Michael Boschmann, MD, and colleagues from Berlin's Franz-Volhard Clinical Research Center tracked energy expenditures among seven men and seven women who were healthy and not overweight.

After drinking approximately 17 ounces of water, the subjects' metabolic rates -- or the rate at which calories are burned -- increased by 30% for both men and women. The increases occurred within 10 minutes of water consumption and reached a maximum after about 30 to 40 minutes". S.Boyles WebMD Healthnews

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20040105/drinking-water-may-speed-weight-loss

So, as well as speeding up your metabolism, water helps the body burn body fat so that it can utilise the fat as energy (calories).
Does too much water lead to water retention -  abdominal bloating, the puffiness "false fat"? NO! Quite the opposite - if you don't drink enough, your body will go into survival mode and the kidneys will send out the message that the body needs to start storing water and slow down the waste filtering systems that require a lot of fluid. As a result of this the concentration of waste and toxins in the blood grows higher, making you feel sluggish. To keep the vital organs safe, the toxins are stored in the body's fat cells, where they will stay, until the cell's contents are used as energy (calories) when you exercise or energy when you have low calorie intake.
Drink my dears and tomorrow drink again!  Visit us at www.clubmotivita.com