Water weight and low carb diets

sunn_lighter
sunn_lighter Posts: 7,891 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm not on a low carb diet, but I had a question I thought someone here might be able to answer. Why is it people lose so much water weight at the beginning of a low carb diet when so much of the food has very high sodium content?

I don't think it's because the food is less processed or not packaged, because when my husband went low carb a few years back, he lost 10 pounds in a week (obviously mostly water), but he was eating a ton of eggs, bacon, and steak, all liberally seasoned. Not to mention the bottled blue cheese salad dressing, and other condiments that were allowed on the diet.

Any insight? :)

Replies

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    edited May 2015
    carbs make you retain water, so when you cut carbs you retain less water weight; hence, the initial drop in weight.

    ETA - also, when you cut carbs your glycogen gets used up so you get less water weight + less glycogen = drop in weight
  • snowflakesav
    snowflakesav Posts: 649 Member
    Glycogen is stored in your muscles. One little molecule of glycogen binds with 3 molecules of water in this stored state. When you burn this glycogen that is stored while on a low carb diet all that water gets released. Voila 3 to 6 pound weight loss. This stored glycogen is not to be confused with fat. You need stored glycogen for athletic performance and improvement and your brain uses it as fuel.

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    sunn_lighter wrote: »
    Thanks! So why do the glycogen stores get used up on a low carb diet? And is it just glycogen or do carbs make you retain water for some other reason?

    yes, you deplete glycogen on a low carb diet, you also deplete it be being on a calorie deficit.

    Yes, carbs make you retain water.
  • sandryc79
    sandryc79 Posts: 250 Member
    Knowing how your body stores water can be comforting when you see jumps on the scale.

    After month of low calorie moderate carb eating, I ate a half bag of Hawaiian rolls over an evening of drinking with friends and Bam! I was up "5 lbs" overnight. I was over my maintenance calories a bit, but I knew the majority of this was replenished glycogen stores, not fat, so I wasn't upset. Sure enough, I lost 1 lb of it a day as I went back to my normal calories deficit.
  • barefoot2momma88
    barefoot2momma88 Posts: 5 Member
    So how does water weight get stored in the body?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    carbs cause water retention. Carbs are also largely responsible for your glycogen stores...your immediately available energy. When you cut carbs, you retain less water and dump glycogen.
  • arachnofobia7
    arachnofobia7 Posts: 50 Member
    So why do the glycogen stores get used up on a low carb diet? And is it just glycogen or do carbs make you retain water for some other reason?

    Hmmm - let me have a go ...

    CARBS - body converts them into GLUCOSE=IMMEDIATE ENERGY RESOURCE- if not used straight away, it is converted into GLYCOGEN =SECONDARY ENERGY RESOURCE happily stored in liver and muscles - when glycogen supply reaches its full capacity, any excess gets converted into FAT - our ''energy savings for rainy days''

    Following this very simplistic formula of carb management the answer to your question is fairly straight forward, when you cut down on carbs the body needs more time and effort to generate energy from whatever else is available. Intermittent fasting incorporated idea of depleting glycogen stores to the point that the body has to mobilise fat stores to realise some energy.

    Personally I play this trick on my body as well, I skip breakfast in order to extend the nightly state of fasting and go for running first thing in the morning to kill the remains of glycogen.

    As far as second question goes, it boils down to the explanation submitted by snowflakesav.

    All this combined with calorie deficit should result in fat loss and rather frequent toilet visits (this when body discard the water that was used as a transporter for glycogen)

    Hope it makes sense?:)
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
    Best thread ever.

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