Friday, 1st July 2016
On a daily basis we always hear about drinking more and more water but is it beneficial to losing weight?
Drinking plenty of cold water is essential for your health and your body’s survival; you can live much longer without food than you can water. Without drinking enough water we become dehydrated and our bodies see this as a threat to its survival - therefore we retain fluid as a consequence resulting in weight gain and bloating.
“Why not just have a can or pop or a cup of coffee?” I hear you ask; caffeine found in coffee, tea and fizzy pop will only worsen the level of dehydration, driving any water in the body out leaving you even more likely to dehydrate. Cutting these out of your everyday diet and upping your intake of water and water-filled foods, such as fruit and vegetables, will help regain your natural fluid balance.
Water also boosts your metabolism - the kidneys filter out toxins in the body but when your body is dehydrated they cannot function correctly and the liver takes some of the load. One of the functions of the liver is to break down fat, which it cannot do as effectively whilst helping the kidneys, this will result in the body storing more fat. When the body has a strong supply of water the kidneys will be able to function correctly and the liver will be able to continue to break down more fat in the body - which will help to aid weight loss and bloating.
On occasion being hungry can be confused with being dehydrated next time you feel hungry try a glass of water first.
Try and drink 2-3 litres of water a day - Trust me, your body will thank you for it!
By Fiona Cowgill, Personal Trainer