Water - How important to weight loss...REALLY?

Water is definitely needed by your body but I've never seen anyone provide scientific evidence that a certain amount of daily water intake is necessary for weight loss. I think it's a pretty well known fact that a normal, healthy person should be getting 64 ounces of water each day but a good part of the that need comes in the form of the food you eat and the other beverages you drink. Do not let anyone tell you that you MUST drink 64 ounces of plain water each day. I see that a lot in these forums but you do not.

MFP actually encourages you to drink 8 glasses of water daily with the water consumption tool on the food diary. Most folks will take this to mean plain water which they are bringing to the forums.

Please don't regard this as an ignorant question...

I understand that water is important to health. I also understand that hydration is very important.

For years I have noticed that I am a person who never truly gets thirsty. It doesn't matter how hot it is, what the level of my activity may be, or how long it has been since I last had a drink...I NEVER get thirsty. I have spoken to doctors about this time and time again and there is no true answer to my questions.

A few years ago I suffered from heat-stroke and almost died from Rhabdomyolysis (the clogging of the kidney's filter system by break down of muscle tissues). Luckily, there was no permanent damage. Once again, I NEVER got thirsty.

The odd thing about all this is that when I do drink...I can drink and drink and drink and never need to relieve myself. Which, in turn, makes me think that I was severely dehydrated and didn't even know it. It is typical for me to drink 6 or 7 glasses of water...and never need trip to the bathroom! My wife on the other hand, makes 2 trips every meal.

The Question:

So, a friend of mine told me that if I do not drink MORE water than is needed by my body, I will NEVER be able to lose any weight. He is under the impression that the only way for the body to excrete fat cells is if there is ample water in the body. He feels that the reason that it is so hard for me to lose any weight is because I am constantly dehydrated.

I am curious if anyone has found that increasing water intake has any sort of direct correlation to weight loss?

Christopher

OK, well I don't know know the answer to this or why it happened to me but I will share my little story with you.

12 years ago I lost 89 lbs and to start with I was drinking 8 glasses of water a day, every day.

I was hungry all the time but I never cheated and I stayed on my low calorie plan to the T.

The coldness of the water sloshing about in my empty tummy often made have such pain of hunger I could honestly say they were actual 'pains' of hunger and not just thinking I was hungry, but I persevered and lost around 1 - 2 pounds a week, which as you know is the correct amount.

However, the other ladies who were doing the same diet as me (weight watchers) were similar weight to me were losing 3 - 4 pounds a week and were not drinking the water I was but were replacing it with tea coffee sugar free squash and diet coke.

I carried on with my water and still it was making me hungry and I would go to bed with the loudest grumbling in my tummy that even my husband could hear.

The next day I had had enough and said sod it I am going to drink what I want (hate water anyway) and started out my day with a nice coffee and semi skimmed milk, followed by 4 cans of diet coke throughout the day (wouldn't drink it now as I know what it contains) and numerous amounts of diet orange squash.

I was sleeping better as the groaning of my tummy wasn't keeping me awake and I generally felt better. I know that sounds crazy as water is pure for your body, but I really did feel better and my skin and hair and everything were exactly the same as when I was drinking the water.

The biggest shock was when I went for my weekly weigh in at Weight watchers, I had lost 9 pound in a week!

This followed by an average of 4 lbs a week right down until I had got to my goal weight and had lost a total of 89 lbs in just a little over 7 months.

I know there will be some out there that will be raising an eyebrow and saying either I am making it up or was starving myself and let me tell you this, if I could find my log book of my food and weight I would happily upload it here because I was on a 1400 calorie a day diet and logged everything (like I am doing now here, not a day missed) and I felt fantastic.

Unfortunately I then broke my back and had other health issues like pcos and regained it all, but I did it and did it far better and easier when I omitted the water drinking and replaced it with low calorie drinks I actually liked.

Psychological maybe , but it worked for me and I was not going to complain when I felt so well and slim.

I know this is not the answer to the question but thought I would share with you how I felt and how I still all these years later avoid plain water.

As adults our bodies are ~70% water, so you definitely need the water. Without it, your kidneys and other organs don't function as well. What concerns me is your history of rhabdo, I think that would make it more necessary for you to drink an adequate amount of water everyday. I know it may be alarming that you aren't thirsting for water, but as long as you've been checked out by a doctor for renal, pituitary, neuro, etc problems, you should drink at least 8 cups of water a day. You may eventually notice a difference in your urine and/or stool. If you start to retain water through edema in your extremities then see a doctor. I have noticed a difference in my hunger and how my skin looks, in addition to weight loss when I drink an adequate amount.

I don't know about anyone else and I'm not saying don't drink water because it *is* good for you but when I was losing weight on Weight Watchers I never drank water. Seriously. I had one or two diet sodas a day for liquids and that was it. I was also eating fast food (not salads but sandwiches) and frozen dinners both in the same day so my sodium probably averaged around 3000-4000 a day.

Which I guess is probably why I didn't retain water.

I have no clue, but I looooooove drinking water. I'm far from any health freak, 266 pounds with exercise and "dieting", but I love having ice cold water with meals....and with anything really.......I'm not on topic lol.....sorry

I think it is extremely important. Most everyone has stated that in different ways. Your body is mostly made up of water. It needs to replenish constantly. Sometimes thirst can be mistaken for hunger. You just have to suck it up and drink more. I would be concerned with the previous medical issues due to not drinking enough water. That was your body telling you hey I am thirsty dude. There are ways to get it down more: like adding lemons or limes or even cucumbers to it. Crystal light may have fake sugars but at least you drink more with it. Limit your pop and other stuff and reach for more water. Your body will thank you for it. It also helps when you are losing such a big amount for your skin's elasticity. THis is what prevents sagginess and stretch marks. Yes guys get that too. Your skin will get a nice glow too.

If drinking water correlates to weight loss, it's because your body stops holding onto extra water in case it needs it. I have noticed that if I don't drink enough water, I start to get a puffy face and double chin - obviously that corresponds to extra ounces of weight (and even pounds, maybe - since you retain water all over your body). If I really push the water for a couple of days, the puffiness goes away and I weigh a little less. But I think it's too extreme to say that drinking a lot of water is necessary for weight loss!

Some articles on the importance of water in the diet. There are plenty more on Google of course.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jenheath4.htm
http://www.cohens.com.au/news_media/weight_loss_articles/water_is_so_important

Basically water is necessary to keep the kidneys working to flush out toxins etc from the body. If the kidneys aren't getting enough water, they can't do their job and the liver has to take up the slack to help out. The liver's main function is to metabolise stored fat (leading to weight loss). If the liver is over worked doing the kidney's job it can't metabolise fat as efficiently which leads to weight loss slowing down or stopping.

But the fact is, you need water to survive especially in hot climates. I work in the Pilbara. Temperature today will get to 47 - 50 degrees celcius in the sun with close to 80% humidity. We drink around 7 - 10 litres of water a day here and still don't pee all that often because we sweat it out pretty quickly.