Water and weight loss

How 8 glasses a day keep fat away.

Incredible as it may seem, water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off. Although most of us take it for granted, water may be the only true “magic potion” for permanent weight loss.

Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolise stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water intake will cause can actually reduce fat deposits.

Here’s why: The kidneys can’t function properly without enough water. When they don’t work to capacity, some of their load is dumped onto the liver.

One of the liver’s primary functions is to metabolise stored fat into usable energy for the body. But, if the liver has to do some of the kidney’s work, it can’t operate at full throttle. As a result, it metabolises less fat, more fat remains stored in the body and weight loss stops.

Drinking enough water is the best treatment for fluid retention. When the body gets less water, it perceives this is a threat to survival and begins to hold on to every drop. Water is stored in extracellular spaces (outside cells). This shows up as swollen feet, legs and hands.

Diuretics offer a temporary solution at best. They force out stored water along with some essential nutrients. Again, the body perceives a threat and will replace the lost water at the first opportunity. Thus, the condition quickly returns.

The best way to overcome the problem of water retention is to give your body what it needs – plenty of water. Only then will stored water be released.

If you have a constant problem with water retention, excess salt may be to blame. Your body will tolerate sodium only in a certain concentration. The more salt you eat, the more water your system retains to dilute it. But getting rod of unneeded salt is easy – just drink more water. As it’s forced through the kidneys, it takes away excess sodium.

Water acts as a solvent in the body and the purer it is, free from inorganic minerals, dissolved heavy metals, softners and pollutants, the more body toxins can be let into it and the more organic nutrients it can carry to the body cells. Other fluids like coffee, tea, fruit juices, milk and other liquids don’t count.

Every living cell requires water, just as it does nutrients and oxygen. Water regulates all body functions and is essential for the removal of wastes especially from the lymphatics (i.e. the cell level).

An overweight person needs more water than the thin one. Larger people have large metabolic loads. Since we know that water is the key to fat metabolism, it follows that the overweight person needs more water.

Water helps rid the body of waste. During weight loss, the body has a lot more waste to get rid of – all that metabolised fat must be shed. Again adequate water helps flush out the waste.