Does Drinking Lots of Water Help You Lose Weight?

by Mike Roussell PhD(c)

Water is essential to life and a healthy body. Dehydration will wreak havoc on you and your fitness goals. If you are dehydrated your body cannot function at its optimal level. For example, your muscles will loose strength, you won't burn fat as quickly, and you'll feel tired and fatigued.

There are lots of rumors and claims out there saying that drinking water will help you lose weight. Are these claims justified? Does it really work? Yes and No.

The water-weight loss connection has been around for a long time but in December 2003 a study entitled Water-Induced Thermogenesis was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. This study showed that drinking 2 Liters of water spread throughout the day burned up to 400KJ (~100Cal) a day. Pretty interesting, but not the magic bullet.

You do need to be drinking a lot of water during the day. Not for the calorie burning effect but to ward off dehydration. Dehydration is just a bad situation. By properly hydrating your body you will be less fatigued, more alert, perform better, think straighter, and just feel all around great.  Water is the best performance enhancing “drug” out there.  Numerous studies have shown the detrimental effects even mild dehydration can have on performance.

Maintaining a proper level of hydration before, during, and after exercise has been shown to help maintain performance, reduce exercising heart rate, and reduce heat stress.  More specifically, in one study, just a 1.5% reduction in body weight due to dehydration was enough to significantly decrease the one-rep maximum bench press of ten young men.

How much water do you need to drink? You should shoot for 2 clear urinations each day - this is a good marker that you are well hydrated.

About the Author/More Info:

Warp Speed Fat Loss is a complete 28 day diet and training system crafted to help you lose 10,15, or 20lbs of body fat in just 28 day. To start losing weight fast visit WarpSpeedFatLoss.com. Mike Roussell is a nutrition doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania. Mike's writings can be found in magazines such as Men's Health, Men's Fitness, and Testosterone Nation. Mike specializes in fat loss nutrition and diets for busy men and women who need to lose weight fast without it interfering with their lives. Warp Speed Fat Loss (WarpSpeedFatLoss.com) is a complete Done-for-You A-Z Fat Loss Blueprint that gives you exactly everything you need to eat to lose weight in record time.