The Importance of Water for Weight Loss.txt

Water is the most abundant compound in your body – about 70% of you is water. The concentration of water in your body varies by location. Your blood, for example, is 83% water, muscle is about 75% water, and both your brain and liver are 85% water. Water is required for all parts of your body to function, from the smallest cell to the most complex system. Lack of adequate water causes strain on your organs and affects all activity within your body. Without water you will die, so it is logical that dehydration would be debilitating to your health.

How Much Water is enough? – A person should drink about 8 glasses of water a day. If you exercise you should drink more to replace what you lose through perspiration.

Drinking Water to Lose Weight – Because water is necessary to survival, the body stores it for emergency. If you, like most people, do not drink enough water your body is always in water-storing mode. Drinking enough water each day allows your body to trust that it will continue to get more – slowly but surely it will begin to expel the water it has been storing, and you will lose that water weight.

Water, Digestion and Metabolism – Water is necessary to efficient digestion and metabolism. Biochemical reactions related to digestion and metabolism depend on the presence of water, and without enough water food moves more slowly through your body and metabolism becomes sluggish. The faster your metabolism, the faster you can lose weight.

Take Care of Your Liver Through Proper Hydration – When trying to lose weight you need all of your organs functioning correctly, or losing weight becomes difficult, if not impossible. The liver is the most important organ to your body’s fat- burning capabilities, so for you to burn fat it must be operating at prime capacity. Water is necessary to the optimal function of your liver, needed to flush out the toxins and impurities that the liver removes from your blood. Also, your kidneys cannot detoxify efficiently if they are dehydrated, which means their job must be performed by a dehydrated liver that already has enough to worry about.

Replace Sodas With Water – Water is the purest form of itself that you can give to your body. If your goal is to lose weight, replace high-calorie beverages like soft drinks with water, especially with meals; beverages full of sugar or chemical additives may interfere with digestion. Water is an excellent no-calorie appetite suppressant – when feeling hungry, simply drink a glass of water or a cup of tea. Add a dash of fruit juice to your water for flavour and vitamins. You can also rev up your metabolism by drinking your water ice cold, since the body must expend calories to warm it up.

Water As An Appetite Suppressant – Certain foods are conducive to weight loss because of their appetite suppressing properties, due to the amount of water they contain. Beans contain a lot of water and fibre and are digested slower by the body than is meat, lowering your appetite for a longer period of time. Most fruits and vegetables have high water content, such as apples, pears, watermelon, cucumber, zucchini, radishes and celery. By making fruits and vegetables a huge part of your diet you gain the fibre, vitamins and nutrients they offer without taking in a lot of calories, and they fill you up so you don’t eat more than you should.