What is water weight???

fatjon73

Hello all

Its me the novice again!!!!

Reading some of the threads on here I have noticed the term Water Weight used a few time.

I understand its about water retention etc, but can someone explain how it works, how to keep or to get rid of water, or how to check if you have enough etc....

I have a set of scales that tells me my bodys hydration, but I dont understand it....lol...... the figure is usually around 48% mark, Is this good or bad???

Many thanks

Jon

yarwell

As I understand it the water content of our body isn't tightly controlled, so it might vary by +/1 to 2 lbs or more from day to day.

If you were to take in a load of salt for example things may swing into action to maintain the concentration of sodium by either discharging less water, discharging more sodium or somewhere in between.

If you don't drink enough you tend to pee out too much, your blood plasma volume decreases, your blood pressure drops and you get headaches or feel faint. The same happens if you don't have enough sodium intake.

One paper said " It was concluded, therefore, that not only sodium intake but also the carbohydrate content of the diet should be reduced in an attempt to induce a negative sodium balance and to correct hypertension in obese subjects." as insulin promotes the retention of sodium and hence water.

The number I had in my head was 42 - 44 % water.... then I saw this

"Different people have different percentages of their bodies made up of
water. Babies have the most, being born at about 78%. By one year of age,
that amound drops to about 65%. In adult men, about 60% of their bodies
are water. However, fat tissue does not have as much water as lean tissue.
In adult women, fat makes up more of the body than men, so they have about
55% of thier bodies made of water. Fat men also have less water (as a
percentage) than thin men."

fatjon73

Hello

Just wanted to repost this one, as now I am understanding what my body does with weight etc over the course of days / weeks / months I see a pattern with what I class as water retention, I go for 2 or 3 weeks, peeing regular and often, then for a week or 2 half as much, and my weight then usually stays same or goes up a little, but once I get regular again, I lose it quickly. Is there any way to help with this, I do drink water alot through the day, 4 to 6 pints a day at least, but I do drink coffee / tea also daily.

Any info on this topic would be a help

Thanks

Jon

RuthieCass

Hello

Just wanted to repost this one, as now I am understanding what my body does with weight etc over the course of days / weeks / months I see a pattern with what I class as water retention, I go for 2 or 3 weeks, peeing regular and often, then for a week or 2 half as much, and my weight then usually stays same or goes up a little, but once I get regular again, I lose it quickly. Is there any way to help with this, I do drink water alot through the day, 4 to 6 pints a day at least, but I do drink coffee / tea also daily.

Any info on this topic would be a help

Thanks

Jon

I don't know why you further "need help with this." Yarwell offered a pretty good explanation. All you really need to know about water weight is that it can make your scale go up an down even if you're not gaining or losing any fat. You should keep this in mind when you're watching the scale. Salty foods, carbs, exercise, and hormonal changes can make you retain water. And you can't always avoid or control it (making sure you drink sufficient water & not too much sodium helps, though). Why not focus on the things you can control--your diet, your exercise--instead of something like water weight? Keeping track of your body measurements will also give you a good idea if you're on the right track.