The simple answer is yes, but how? Water may not be the most exciting of drinks, but the effect it can have on your life, diet and health isn’t spoken about enough.
For something that is free, limitless in most countries, and calorie-free, it seems a no brainer to not include it as part of your everyday diet.
You’re here to find out how water can help you lose weight, so take a look at what you’re missing out on.
Every Little Helps
Most of us have been on a night out before, or at least reluctantly done a few shots at the bar, right? Well, whether you’re a shot lover or not, you’re in for a treat!
Studies have compared the results of women undertaking the same 24-week weight loss programme, and the results are staggering. Results showed that women who drank 250ml of water after lunch lost 13.6% more weight than women who drank the same volume of diet beverages instead. For context, 250ml is either 5 big shots, or 10 small shots of water. Easy, right?
It’s not a huge amount to drink and could have a great impact on your road to losing weight, so maybe a water instead of a diet coke could make all the difference!
Who said Water Doesn’t Burn?
Calorie burning can sometimes seem a tedious exercise, and you may feel you’re not burning enough for the amount of work you’re putting in.
By drinking 500ml of water, you can expect to burn 2-3% more calories in the 90 minutes after it’s consumed which could ultimately make a huge difference if you’re working out in those 90 minutes!
For those of you not working out for 90 minutes after drinking water, there’s still a way you can win with water. Studies have shown that drinking water can increase the number of calories burnt while simply at rest. If you’re drinking cold water, your body is required to heat the water ready for digestion, using up energy and calories in the process!
Alongside this, lots of water can seriously increase the efficiency of waste excretion thanks to hydrated kidneys filtering toxins and waste whilst our organs retain essential nutrients and electrolytes.
This is where dehydration becomes an issue, as it prevents the body from removing waste in the form of urine or faeces, whilst increasing the chance of constipation. If these two processes occur simultaneously, there is a high chance that you could start to carry a few unnecessary pounds!
Of course, you’re not going to lose all of your weight purely by drinking water, but it’s going to help knock off those extra calories without you even realising.
Help Improve Your Diet
Not only will water change your mind about what and when to drink, but it will also affect your diet very positively. Drinking water may change your appetite if consumed before meals.
When the stomach senses it is full, signals are sent to the brain to stop eating. As water consumes space inside the stomach, the feeling of fullness is sent to the brain more regularly. Water is calorie-free, so the chances are you will consume less calories when you do come to eat as the water has filled you up instead of those extra chips you may have eaten. Ultimately, this allows you to eat less calories whilst still feeling satisfied with your food, helping you lose weight.
On the other hand, it is important to realise that there is no issue with continuing to eat your normal diet whilst drinking lots of water as we have understood that water helps digestion and the excretion of faeces.
For many of us, a glass of water obviously doesn’t give the satisfaction that a bag of crisps does, but the next time you’re debating which snack to have, just remember water is an alternative!
