How Does Water Help With Weight Loss?
If you’ve ever tried losing weight or know someone who has, you’ve likely heard or read that drinking water can be beneficial to your dieting efforts. Chances are pretty good that, if you’ve previously tried a weight loss program, it promoted drinking water as part of a healthy diet.
However, while we may know drinking water can help with weight loss, we may not be completely sure about exactly how it can help. Below are specific reasons water has been shown to be helpful when trying to lose weight.
WATER HELPS YOU EAT LESS
The research journal Obesity published a 2015 study which found that people who drank a glass of water before each meal were more likely to eat less, helping them to lose weight.
The reason? Since water takes up space in your stomach, it helps make you feel fuller and prevents you from overeating.
WATER BOOSTS ENERGY
Water makes up about 60% of our body weight, and our organs and systems depend on it to run properly. When we don’t take in the amount of water our bodies require for optimal functioning, we get dehydrated and our bodies begin to slow down. The end result? We feel sluggish and have low energy.
Drinking water gives our bodies boosts of energy, helping us fight fatigue. And we all know that we need enough energy if we’re planning to stick to an exercise program that’s part of our weight loss efforts.
A NOTE ABOUT HUNGER VS. THIRST
Hunger is confused by thirst more often than we realize. We tend to misread signals from our bodies and automatically grab something to eat when we feel like we’re hungry. In many instances, however, when we feel as though we’re hungry, we’re really thirsty and our bodies need water instead of food.
A good rule of thumb is to drink a glass of water when you feel hungry in between meals. If you still feel hungry after fifteen minutes, grab a healthy snack. You may just be surprised at how many times you end up not needing the snack!
Essentially, drinking water means less snacking, which means less overall calorie intake, which promotes weight loss.
While there are plenty of other factors that help a person successfully lose weight, including overall diet and regular exercise, it can’t be denied that drinking water is an important part of the entire process that can help you reach your weight loss goals more easily.
