Drinking More Water Reduce Weight: It’s often claimed that if you’re trying to lose weight, one of the things you should do every day is drink plenty of water. In many places on the Internet, there is advice that one should drink about one gallon (about 4.5 liters) of water a day. This is because water helps burn calories and reduce appetite, which leads to weight loss.
Although we all know that losing weight is not so easy, but studies say something else in this regard.
Myth 1: Drinking More Water Helps Burn Calories
Drinking More Water Reduce Weight: A small study of 14 young people found that drinking 500 milliliters of water increased resting energy expenditure (the amount of calories our body burns before exercise) by about 24 percent. Although this may sound great, its effect only lasted for an hour.
This may be because the body needs to use more energy to bring the water up to body temperature, as the body needs more energy to filter the increased volume of fluid through the kidneys. And again, this effect was only seen for about an hour.
So maybe scientifically it may be possible, but the actual increase in calories burned is very small. For example, even if you drink 1.5 liters more water every day, this will save you fewer calories than you would get from a slice of bread.
It’s also worth noting that all of this research was on young healthy adults. More research is needed to see whether this effect is also seen in other groups (such as middle-aged and older adults).
Myth 2: Drinking More Water With Meals Reduces Appetite
Drinking More Water Reduce Weight: This claim again seems to be factual, in that if your stomach is filled with at least a little water then there is less space for food, hence you eat less.
Several studies support this, especially studies conducted in middle-aged and older adults. This is also one of the reasons why people who are unwell or have low appetite are advised not to drink before eating as this can lead to the problem of eating less. But for people looking to lose weight, the science is different.
One study showed that middle-aged and older adults who drank water before meals lost 2 pounds in weight in 12 weeks, compared to those who did not drink water with meals.
On the other hand, younger participants (aged 21–35) did not lose weight regardless of whether they drank water before meals or not. But since the study did not use blinding (where information that influences participants is withheld until the experiment is over), this means that participants would have known why they were drinking water before their meal. .
Drinking More Water Reduce Weight: This may have led some participants to deliberately overeat, in the hope that it might help them lose weight.
Although water may have some appetite suppressing effects, it does not appear to result in long-term weight change.
But while having less appetite and less desire to eat again doesn’t exactly correspond with being able to lose weight, it can be a starting point. What helps us feel full is our stomach. When food reaches the stomach, it triggers stretch receptors that release hormones that tell us we are full.
But since water is a liquid, it empties from our stomach faster – which means it doesn’t fill our stomach. What’s even more interesting is that due to the shape of the stomach, liquids can bypass any semi-solid food that gets digested in the lower part of the stomach. This means that water can still empty from the stomach quickly. Therefore, even if it is eaten at the end of the meal, it does not necessarily make you feel full.
If you’re trying to eat less and lose weight, drinking more water may not be a good solution. However, if you feel like drinking something and you are drinking soda or any carbonated drink then drinking water instead can be beneficial for you.
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