Does water intake affect weight loss?

ElizabethRoad

Further, it increases metabolism in that your body must process water at zero calories, so that itself is a burn.

I'd be interested to see a link to a peer reviewed study providing evidence for this apparently spurious claim.

You've heard it before, but drink those 8 8-ounce glasses of water every day. The energy burning process of metabolism needs water to work effectively.

YOU research that and prove it wrong - :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

And here is something to help you learn
http://www.livestrong.com/article/30240-drinking-water-increase-metabolism/

Good luck!

Burden of proof is on the person making the claim.

mrsjimihendrix

A wedge of lemon helps for me! It's hard to make it taste any better without the added chemicals or sugar...

curvy_ca_mama

water certainly can help with weight loss, it keeps you feeling fuller so you don't overeat, it can help flush out water retention caused by sodium, and I notice I just feel better when I drink it so I am more apt to workout etc.

I definitely think it can affect your weight loss.......but no need to overdo it!

I second that......perfectly said!

BobbyClerici

Further, it increases metabolism in that your body must process water at zero calories, so that itself is a burn.

I'd be interested to see a link to a peer reviewed study providing evidence for this apparently spurious claim.

You've heard it before, but drink those 8 8-ounce glasses of water every day. The energy burning process of metabolism needs water to work effectively.

YOU research that and prove it wrong - :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

And here is something to help you learn
http://www.livestrong.com/article/30240-drinking-water-increase-metabolism/

Good luck!

Burden of proof is on the person making the claim.

Then let's just keep it simple - WATER=GOOD!

Some on you folks look for things to argue over when consumption of ANYTHING at zero calories needs energy to process.
Just remember...WATER=GOOD!

galegetsthin

I drink around 100 ozs just at work, then another few glasses in the evenings. I have lost a LOT of weight and when I am drinking the water it helps. It helps me distinguish between hungry and thirsty and keeps me feeling fuller. (at times sloshy even) I am on a medication though that makes me sooooooooo thirsty.

amymeenieminymo

Last week I kinda slipped and caught myself only wanting to drink if I was thirsty.

Isn't that kind of the whole point of having a thirst drive?

Actually, by the time you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated

This! Thirst is actually your body's way of screaming at you that you need to drink something. Which sucks for me because I don't like drinking water, and certainly not if I don't feel thirsty.

ThenTheresChad

I wanted to know this also!:)

shawneez75

I asked my nutritonist this question last week and she said:
You need half your body weight in water so that is 98.5 ounces of water a day, or 3 liters.

THEN SHE GAVE ME THIS PAPER THAT SAID:

If you eat a healthy diet, about 20 percent of your water may come from the foods you eat. If you eat a healthy diet you can drink about 80 ounces of water a day.

Water is an obvious source for your daily fluid needs. Other good beverages include milk, herbal teas, low-sodium broth, 100% fruit and vegetable juices. Soft drinks will also count toward your daily total of fluid, just remember that sugar sweetened soft drinks and fruit juices add extra calories to your daily diet that you don't need, while drinking water may help you lose weight.

The Mayo clinic said: other sources of water
Although it's a great idea to keep water within reach at all times, you don't need to rely only on what you drink to meet your fluid needs. What you eat also provides a significant portion of your fluid needs. On average, food provides about 20 percent of total water intake. For example, many fruits and vegetables, such as watermelon and tomatoes, are 90 percent or more water by weight.

In addition, beverages such as milk and juice are composed mostly of water. Even beer, wine and caffeinated beverages — such as coffee, tea or soda — can contribute, but these should not be a major portion of your daily total fluid intake. Water is still your best bet because it's calorie-free, inexpensive and readily available.

And if you still need more info this is a GREATsite!!! http://www.eatingwell.com/blogs/health_blog/how_much_water_should_i_drink_5_myths_about_hydration_answered

osuzorba

Further, it increases metabolism in that your body must process water at zero calories, so that itself is a burn.

I'd be interested to see a link to a peer reviewed study providing evidence for this apparently spurious claim.

Basic thermodynamics says that you burn calories heating the water to body temperature. It takes 28 calories of energy to heat 64 ounces of water from 40°F to 98.6°F. I'm not sure what the efficiency of the human body is, but lets say it is 75% efficient at converting food energy to heat, it would then take 37.3 calories just to heat the water. A food calorie is actually the amount of energy required to heat 1 kg of water by 1°C.

It would also take some amount of energy (no idea how much) to move the water from your stomach, to your blood, to your kidneys, then bladder and on out.

LabRat529

Er.

Not that I care that much... but I seriously doubt water takes any energy at all to process. There's this thing called osmosis. Yah... our bodies rock at osmosis. Water moves in and out of our cells through various pores... and that movement is simply driven by concentration gradient. No ATP involved, therefore no energy used. That's pretty basic cell biology.

Water is absorbed in the gut the same way. OSMOSIS through channels/pores.

Even in the kidneys, water moves by osmosis... In fact, google the counter-current-exchange. Pretty clever bit of biology there.

IONS on the other hand, do sometimes require ATP and thus energy to move.

That doesn't have any relevance to whether you should or shouldn't drink water...

I just think its silly to think our bodies burn energy in an effort to process H20. I really don't understand why people try so hard to fit the natural world into their own little box of 'the way things should be'. We don't need to prove that water takes energy to process. Just drink the stuff.

TourThePast

Further, it increases metabolism in that your body must process water at zero calories, so that itself is a burn.

I'd be interested to see a link to a peer reviewed study providing evidence for this apparently spurious claim.

Basic thermodynamics says that you burn calories heating the water to body temperature.

There was a fascinating paper, which I wish I'd bookmarked, which came to the conclusion that drinking the maximum recommended amount of water, if it was heavily chilled, can burn around 30 calories a day.

Not enough to be significant, but drinking water at body temperature would have virtually zero effect.

Yes water can stop you feeling hungry, yes being extremely dehydrated can affect the body's functioning, but there's no magical weight loss effect that can be gained by drinking more water than your body needs.

spicychick1987

well. actually lesser water you drink, more your body retains water....so be sure drink plently drnik to 'flush' out retain water out, one bad thing about it you will need drink it everyday no matter how you feel even feelnig yucky to drnik it. Yes it can sometimes cause you bloated but that is also normal, but over time as your body get used to it it will give u no problems at all.

TourThePast

There's this thing called osmosis.

Exactly, water molecules will pass through a suitable membrane through osmosis even in the laboratory, without the membrane being part of a living begin to provide energy for the process.

But I figured that would make people's heads explode. :bigsmile:

Thank you for a useful reminder that there are educated people on here.

LabRat529

Basic thermodynamics says that you burn calories heating the water to body temperature. It takes 28 calories of energy to heat 64 ounces of water from 40°F to 98.6°F. I'm not sure what the efficiency of the human body is, but lets say it is 75% efficient at converting food energy to heat, it would then take 37.3 calories just to heat the water. A food calorie is actually the amount of energy required to heat 1 kg of water by 1°C.

No offense... but this is just silly. Our bodies thermoregulate, but the amount of water you drink is not going to make much of a dent at all in how hard our bodies have to work to thermoregulate. We put out a lot of heat simply because we're somewhat inefficient at retaining heat- and that 'wasted heat' is plenty to warm up the water we drink. We're just NOT going to burn extra calories because we drink 8 glasses of water a day. It's just not gonna happen.

But it doesn't matter, does it? I mean, we're not drinking water to burn calories, right?

Could water effect our metabolism in other ways? Personally, I doubt it. It doesn't pass the common-sense test for me... but... I concede there might be some voodoo there that I just don't understand... or maybe there's something about human biology that I'm just not remembering... but I have a hard time believing water does anything to metabolism.

Now are their other benefits to drinking water? Yes. I think staying hydrated is a good thing.

anewmeat50

I heard on the tv doctors show that if you add 2 tablespoons of sugar free crainberry juice to your bottle water that it will help keep you from retaining water. im going to try it

TourThePast

Could water effect our metabolism in other ways? Personally, I doubt it.

A complete lack of water, coupled with a total lack of water content in any of our meals could have a permanent affect on our metabolism. :bigsmile:

A food calorie is actually the amount of energy required to heat 1 kg of water by 1°C.

With my "pedant of the month" hat on, actually a calorie is the amount of energy required to heat 1 cubic centimetre of water by 1°C.

A kilocalorie, kcal or Calorie is the amount of energy required to heat 1 kg of water by 1°C.

Not that any of that is relevant, drink enough water (which will vary wildly depending on the physical work your body does and the climate you do it in) but don't be fooled into thinking that drinking more than enough water will make you thin. If that was the case, don't you think Evian et al would be having massive marketing campaigns on the prospect?

LabRat529

Could water effect our metabolism in other ways? Personally, I doubt it.

A complete lack of water, coupled with a total lack of water content in any of our meals could have a permanent affect on our metabolism. :bigsmile:

Well yes... if you wanna get all technical on me

bpurc22

I seemed to lose more when I was drinking ice water, but I'm not really sure. Was your sleep any different? I know getting more sleep (at least 8 hours) helps with weight loss.

This seems silly, but your body needs energy to heat up cold water, so this tip might help you lose an extra half pound, lol.

RainbootsToBikinis

I tend to drink a lot of water, but I get bored with plain water so I have 5 or 6 different flavors of crystal light with me and a couple different flavors of mio. That way I'm still drinking water but I get to enjoy the different flavors

My1985Freckles

But it doesn't matter, does it? I mean, we're not drinking water to burn calories, right?

Going to have to log my calories burned by drinking water now.... LOL