This method is very popular in social media and forums. “Want to lose weight — drink more water!” – confidentially recommend nutritionists. But is H2O really the most miraculous tool for being slim?
Statistics: water helps to lose weight
Many scientific experiments have unequivocally proven the link between drinking and weight loss.
Take the Stanford study, which involved more than a hundred women who are overweight.
Scientists found that water caused weight loss: every woman, without changing her lifestyle, dropped to 2 kilograms.
So the link “drink — and you will be slim” can be considered statistically proven. But let’s see what physiology says on this subject.
Science: lose weight from water, and here’s why
Water, as studies show, has a whole set of properties that can accelerate weight loss:
1. Water increases calorie expenditure
It is enough to drink 500 ml (about two glasses) of water — and after 10 minutes the metabolic rate will increase by water-induced thermogenesis by 30%, and the effect will last at least an hour. If you drink 2 liters per day, this will be equivalent to a loss of approximately 100 kilocalories. You would lose about as much if you swim for half an hour at a calm pace, walked for 40 minutes or washed the floors for more than half an hour.
2. Water reduces calorie intake
If you quench your thirst with water, then you do not quench it with other drinks, which can be much more high-calorie: lemonade, coke, sweet tea, juices, fruit drinks, milk. It seems a trifle, but in fact, the reduction in calorie content is quite significant: on average, studies show that a water lover consumes almost 200 kilocalories less per day than someone who does not control what he drinks.
3. Water reduces appetite and body fat
To prove this, scientists selected 50 overweight women and suggested that they drink 500 ml (2 cups) of water three times a day: half an hour before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. More young ladies in no way limited.
Eight weeks later, it turned out that women had less appetite: to get enough, they had less food than before. That is, they consumed fewer calories and lost extra pounds. On average, weight loss over 8 weeks was approximately 1.5 kilograms.
Safety regulations
The fact that water really helps to lose weight or keep fit does not mean that you need to drink, drink and drink again right from today.
The norms of water consumption are approximately 3.7 liters per day for men and 2.7 liters for women. Moreover, all the moisture that you get is considered: including from soups and juicy fruits.
Exceeding these standards is not recommended, so as not to get acquainted with such an unpleasant and even dangerous phenomenon, like water intoxication.
It is important to treat liquid as medicine: in small doses, it is almost useless, in large doses it becomes poison. Therefore, adhere to the above middle ground, and you will lose weight.
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