wtf is water weight.
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Should we start using that line then?
It's water weight
well, or cancer0 -
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EvgeniZyntx wrote: »EvgeniZyntx wrote: »EvgeniZyntx wrote: »angelamichelle_xo wrote: »drinking more water flushes out water weight?
wtf again lolol.
Yes, the reason is that as you drink more your kidney will flush out salts as the salts go you then require less water to maintain proper osmolarity. This is part of the homeostasis function of kidneys. It keeps your heart (and brain) working properly as it maintains the salt balance needed for electrical signaling.
This is a more interesting explanation than the "dehydrtaion mode" one (the water version of "starvation mode") which basically says that if you deny your body enough water, it will try to hold on to more of it because it thinks it will be going into a period of dehydration.
Well, the body isn't forward thinking. It reacts to past and current states. It works to keep salt and water in the body at the right level.
If you are interested in this the ABPI has a great module explaining the anatomical and functional details of kidney - including osmosis, active transport and homeostasis:
http://www.abpischools.org.uk/page/modules/homeostasis_kidneys/.cfm?coSiteNavigation_allTopic=1
Already have a good understanding but thanks. (You notice I wasn't touting the "dehydration mode", just mentioning that it is the usual answer, or some variation of it is.)
Yeah, posting for general audience and lurkers that might be interested.
Kidney function was sort of a magical point in college where I began to get feedback loops - it is such a neat system. /physiology nerd
I will definitely check out the link. The renal system is fascinating, my mom passed away from kidney failure brought on by a heart attack, the contrast dye they used when treating her cardiac arrest put too much stress on her already limited functioning kidneys. I learned so much from chatting with her endocrinologist in the hospital that week.
Sorry to hijack your thread OP, we now return you to your "WTF why does the scale say I gained weight moment."0 -
This is an image NASA used in a presentation on what goes into and out of a human being at maintenance (important when you need to keep people in maintance on another planet like Mars).
As you can see, a lot of water passes into (both from drinks, and in food), and even more passes out of a normal person. Anything that causes the body to avoid releasing that water on the right side leads to weight going up, but it isn't the same as gaining weight in the getting fatter terms that most people think of gaining weight as. It also tends to be weight that won't stay because the body tends to return to a somewhat narrow range of water in comparison to the rest of bodily material.0 -
Glycogen is definitely something you should read up on!
It's a big, big factor in the "water weight" thing.
I'm not a scientist/nutritionist, but from my memory of my own googling on the topic...
Your body has a preferred amount of Glycogen stored up for quick and easy access to energy. Glycogen is made up of one-part glucose (or carbohydrate) and three- to four-parts water. As you use your glycogen, the water un-binds and passes out of your system. Usually you replenish it soon by eating more food. But if you're on a diet, you generally use more glycogen than you replenish, which means that the net affect is a loss of glycogen and therefore a loss of water weight.
So the general pattern of dieting is that when you cut calories, you lose both glycogen and fat. After your diet, your body needs to find its preferred amount of glycogen back, so you actually gain glycogen-related-weight (aka "water weight") back.
Overall, the glycogen factor explains why you lose weight most quickly at the beginning of your diet (from glycogen use, because it is easiest/quickest to access), less quickly in the middle (when less glycogen is available to use - so you must start getting energy from fat stores, which contain a lower percentage of water per calorie), and either seem to stall in your weight loss or actually gain weight towards the end of your diet when you're cutting fewer calories. (You might still be in a calorie deficit, but you're getting enough nutrition that your body starts rebuilding its glycogen stores - which requires water.) Finally, after you go back to maintenance calories, you'll finish rebuilding your glycogen stores and therefore gain "water weight" (which is good and normal and not something to panic about).
Here's a basic (and entertaining) explanation of what's happening, set in the backdrop of a low-carb diet (and since glycogen is part glucose and therefore a carb, low-carb dieters see this affect the most): https://8fit.com/blog/glycogen-gluconeogenesis-and-water-weight/ But there's far more technical/precise articles out there, too, if you're interested. (here's one... http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/3500-calorie-rule.html/)
People who diet more slowly don't deplete their glycogen stores as much, so they probably don't notice the "water weight" thing as much.0 -
SarahIluvatariel wrote: »Glycogen is definitely something you should read up on! It's a big, big factor in the "water weight" thing.
I'm not a scientist/nutritionist, but from my memory of my own googling on the topic...
Your body has a preferred amount of Glycogen stored up for quick and easy access to energy. Glycogen is made up of one-part glucose (or carbohydrate) and three- to four-parts water. As you use your glycogen, the water un-binds and passes out of your system. Usually you replenish it soon by eating more food. But if you're on a diet, you generally use more glycogen than you replenish, which means that the net affect is a loss of glycogen and therefore a loss of water weight.
So the general pattern of dieting is that when you cut calories, you lose both glycogen and fat. After your diet, your body needs to find its preferred amount of glycogen back, so you actually gain glycogen-related-weight (aka "water weight") back.
Overall, the glycogen factor explains why you lose weight most quickly at the beginning of your diet (from glycogen use, because it is easiest/quickest to access), less quickly in the middle (when less glycogen is available to use - so you must start getting energy from fat stores, which contain a lower percentage of water per calorie), and either seem to stall in your weight loss or actually gain weight towards the end of your diet when you're cutting fewer calories. (You might still be in a calorie deficit, but you're getting enough nutrition that your body starts rebuilding its glycogen stores - which requires water.) Finally, after you go back to maintenance calories, you'll finish rebuilding your glycogen stores and therefore gain "water weight" (which is good and normal and not something to panic about).
Here's a basic (and entertaining) explanation of what's happening, set in the backdrop of a low-carb diet (and since glycogen is part glucose and therefore a carb, low-carb dieters see this affect the most): https://8fit.com/blog/glycogen-gluconeogenesis-and-water-weight/ But there's far more technical/precise articles out there, too, if you're interested. (here's one... http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/3500-calorie-rule.html/)
People who diet more slowly don't deplete their glycogen stores as much, so they probably don't notice the "water weight" thing as much.
Interesting. This explains why on my last MFP journey, I lost 3-4 lb a week the first couple weeks, despite my calorie goals bring set to 1lb/week. I suspected water weight but never knew why.0 -
Also, a little math (if i'm any good at math...), extrapolated from that second article, given that 1 lb = 454 grams
1 lb fat = 454 grams fat = 87% triglyceride + 13% water = 394g triglyceride + 60g water = (394*9) calories of energy + 60g water = 3546 calories of energy + 60g water
1 lb glycogen = 454 grams glycogen = 22% glucose + 78% water = 100g glucose + 354g water = (100*4) calories of energy + 354g water = 400 calories of energy + 354g water
So you can cut your calories from anywhere between 400 to 3500 and still lose a pound of weight, depending on which kind of energy your body is burning. But your body needs glycogen at the end of the story, so don't get too excited if you lose a pound after only cutting 400 calories - because if you burn glycogen, expect to gain it back later. That's why there's so much focus on the 3500 calories that make up a pound of fat - because you can lose that and not gain it back.
Edited to fix my math.0 -
EvgeniZyntx wrote: »water weight is weight gained from:
- sports related inflammation
- glycogen sheathing the increase in glycogen storage (requires water)
- other types of bloat (TOM, food related, salt)
- actual oedema response to disease or drugs
Some of it you can influence by drinking more water - other types you just need to wait for it to pass.
Eventually you do pee it out.
this ..
and it is not, as OP put it, a crock of *kitten*0 -
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JackieMarie1989jgw wrote: »SarahIluvatariel wrote: »Glycogen is definitely something you should read up on! It's a big, big factor in the "water weight" thing.
I'm not a scientist/nutritionist, but from my memory of my own googling on the topic...
Your body has a preferred amount of Glycogen stored up for quick and easy access to energy. Glycogen is made up of one-part glucose (or carbohydrate) and three- to four-parts water. As you use your glycogen, the water un-binds and passes out of your system. Usually you replenish it soon by eating more food. But if you're on a diet, you generally use more glycogen than you replenish, which means that the net affect is a loss of glycogen and therefore a loss of water weight.
So the general pattern of dieting is that when you cut calories, you lose both glycogen and fat. After your diet, your body needs to find its preferred amount of glycogen back, so you actually gain glycogen-related-weight (aka "water weight") back.
Overall, the glycogen factor explains why you lose weight most quickly at the beginning of your diet (from glycogen use, because it is easiest/quickest to access), less quickly in the middle (when less glycogen is available to use - so you must start getting energy from fat stores, which contain a lower percentage of water per calorie), and either seem to stall in your weight loss or actually gain weight towards the end of your diet when you're cutting fewer calories. (You might still be in a calorie deficit, but you're getting enough nutrition that your body starts rebuilding its glycogen stores - which requires water.) Finally, after you go back to maintenance calories, you'll finish rebuilding your glycogen stores and therefore gain "water weight" (which is good and normal and not something to panic about).
Here's a basic (and entertaining) explanation of what's happening, set in the backdrop of a low-carb diet (and since glycogen is part glucose and therefore a carb, low-carb dieters see this affect the most): https://8fit.com/blog/glycogen-gluconeogenesis-and-water-weight/ But there's far more technical/precise articles out there, too, if you're interested. (here's one... http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/3500-calorie-rule.html/)
People who diet more slowly don't deplete their glycogen stores as much, so they probably don't notice the "water weight" thing as much.
Interesting. This explains why on my last MFP journey, I lost 3-4 lb a week the first couple weeks, despite my calorie goals bring set to 1lb/week. I suspected water weight but never knew why.
that is why a lot of ads - like nutrisytem - guarantee that you will drop five pounds in the first week or two, because if you eat less you will exhaust glycogen and in turn drop "weight"….0 -
SarahIluvatariel wrote: »Also, a little math (if i'm any good at math...), extrapolated from that second article, given that 1 lb = 454 grams
1 lb fat = 454 grams fat = 87% triglyceride + 13% water = 394g triglyceride + 60g water = (394*9) calories of energy + 60g water = 3546 calories of energy + 60g water
1 lb glycogen = 454 grams glycogen = 22% glucose + 78% water = 100g glucose + 354g water = (100*4) calories of energy + 354g water = 400 calories of energy + 354g water
So you can cut your calories from anywhere between 400 to 3500 and still lose a pound of weight, depending on which kind of energy your body is burning. But your body needs glycogen at the end of the story, so don't get too excited if you lose a pound after only cutting 400 calories - because if you burn glycogen, expect to gain it back later. That's why there's so much focus on the 3500 calories that make up a pound of fat - because you can lose that and not gain it back.
Edited to fix my math.
Ok, I fixed my math. Hopefully this is right, now....0 -
JackieMarie1989jgw wrote: »Interesting. This explains why on my last MFP journey, I lost 3-4 lb a week the first couple weeks, despite my calorie goals bring set to 1lb/week. I suspected water weight but never knew why.
I totally agaree with you. That's why I typically bump my activity level up by one level - to match my actual loss, better (and I get more calories! yay! lol).0 -
wow this is crazy.0
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angelamichelle_xo wrote: »wow this is crazy.
Right??
You asked a question and got...answers!! Crazy indeed.0 -
thanks!!0
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The back and forth in this thread is leading me to believe of the stickie potential. Awesome stuff.0
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Very interesting! Can someone point me to good, scientific resources to help me understand the role of water retention in "sports-related inflammation" and in "glycogen sheathing the increase in glycogen storage"? I understand basic physiology related to sodium and movement of water in and out of cells, but water weight in relation to working out is new to me. Thank you!0
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QueenofHearts023 wrote: »angelamichelle_xo wrote: »drinking more water flushes out water weight?
wtf again lolol.
Yeah, that helps. Sometimes.
I mean, if I drink a glass of water I pee out much more than I drank... like 3 glasses
its confusing but true.
It goes back to when drinking water was a scarce commodity. Basically if your body senses the onset of dehyration, either from not drinking enough or increased metabolic need for water, it will hold on to whatever its got to prevent dehydration. Drinking more signals that you're not at risk for dehydration so your body can relax and not hold onto as much.
Kinda like a super low calorie diet can actually cause your body to hold onto fat because it thinks it is starving and needs to store as much as possible.0 -
Very interesting! Can someone point me to good, scientific resources to help me understand the role of water retention in "sports-related inflammation" and in "glycogen sheathing the increase in glycogen storage"? I understand basic physiology related to sodium and movement of water in and out of cells, but water weight in relation to working out is new to me. Thank you!
your muscles use glycogen/water to repair themselves, so after you workout you hold onto more water due to muscle repair…
not sure why you need a source as this is considered common knowledge…but here you gohttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3905295/0
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