Water

The human body is made up of 70 percent of it. We use it to wash, hydrate ourselves (run from it when the skies give way, and we haven’t brought an umbrella.)

Health experts recommend drinking 7-8 glasses of water. Despite this being common knowledge, how many of us can say we actually stick to that?

Well, water is more important than we think. It’s essential to keeping the body’s essential functions ticking over properly. It maintains cell structure, transports nutrients across the body and keeps us, you know, moist.

How does water affect weight loss?

  • It suppresses your appetite. Have you ever found yourself snacking aimlessly, wandering to the fridge back and forth? Thirst, triggered by dehydration, can often be mistaken for hunger. Instead of reaching for the bar of chocolate, try a glass of water. It can promote the sensation of fullness as it passes through your system. Try drinking a glass of water before your next meal.
  • It helps you poop. Without proper hydration, your body is less able to expel waste in the form of urine and faeces. Drinking more water will aid and speed up this process.
  • Dehydration promotes lethargy and stress. If the body is dehydrated, it’s common to feel dizziness and fatigue. Neither of those symptoms are going to motivate you to work out or make healthy food choices. You’ll probably opt for a McDonalds and curl up on the sofa.
  • It’s incredibly important to any workout. When muscle cells aren’t properly hydrated, they struggle to repair themselves, making your workouts less effective. And without replacing the fluids lost during exercise, it can lead to heat exhaustion, soreness and fatigue. 
  • If you’re in ketosis then you’re using fat as your primary fuel source routinely. Water is essential to aid your body in eliminating those ketones (a compound created when burning fat rather than carbohydrates for energy) thus helping you to lose weight.

Can drinking water help me burn fat?

When properly hydrated, the body metabolizes stored fat and carbohydrates and converts this into energy – this process is called lipolysis. By upping your water intake, you’re increasing the speed and efficiency of this process. And during a diet, it’s crucial to stay well-hydrated to prevent yourself from bingeing and/or giving into food cravings.

Ordering in? Skip the pop and opt for water

Creamy, cheesy garlic bread. Greasy kebabs, stuffed with mayonnaise and chilli sauce. Dirty fries, loaded with cheese and bacon. Is your mouth watering yet? Junk food is the ultimate guilty pleasure. There’s nothing like ordering a hot, delicious dinner to your door on a rainy evening. But once you’ve indulged, you may find yourself in a puffy predicament. This is because excess sodium plays havoc with the electrolyte balance in your body (which causes thirst.) Your body then retains water, which causes bloating. So, by drinking more water, it flushes the excess sodium out of your system (as well as giving your kidneys some much-needed support.)

Fruit juices, sweetened coffee and pop all have one thing in common – sugar. It’s really easy to overindulge as most people ignore the calorific impact of these beverages. By replacing high-calorie drinks with things like herbal tea and mineral water, it aids in weight loss.

Am I fat because I’m always hungry, or because I’m dehydrated?

Think of the body as a car. In order to operate, it needs fuel. When we consume food, the body digests and converts it into energy, carrying nutrients around the body. Water helps to break down food so that your body can absorb the nutrients, as well as preventing constipation by softening your stool.

If you aren’t drinking enough water with your meals, you’ll feel sluggish as your digestive tract slows and struggles to pass it through. This leads to a slower metabolic process, causing energy crashes and fatigue. This can lead to overeating, as your body craves the nutrients and energy that aren’t being delivered fast enough.

Is it just me, or has all of this reading made you kind of thirsty?