Hydrate to Lose Weight: The Real Skinny On Water Retention and Sodium
If you've been scouring the news, devouring as much information as possible regarding weight loss, you've likely heard all the buzz about the relationship between weight loss and drinking water. It has been well documented that the liver is able to metabolize more fat if you help out your kidneys by drinking plenty of water each day. What is not often explained is water's relationship to salt and how to tell when you are drinking enough water. The purpose of this article is to focus on these two issues. First of all, let's take a look at how our bodies deal with salt! Salt (sodium, at least) is a necessary ingredient to regulate blood pressure and fluid volumes in our bodies. Additionally, it is a top notch preservative and it tastes good! Salt is -- well -- the salt of the earth. Sorry ... Like everything else, we can have too much of a good thing, though. If you've ever seen an ocean disaster movie where people are adrift in the sea hoping for rescue, you've probably heard the warning to not drink salt water. This warning is true and must be heeded if you find yourself adrift at sea, or on a diet. The reason is that the body can only handle a certain concentration of salt. If you eat a really salty meal, you may notice that your body will experience some swelling. This swelling is retained water which is being kept by the body in order to keep the salt in solution. So how do you get rid of retained water?? Well, believe it or not, the answer is that you drink water to get rid of water! That's right. It's counterintuitive, but true. By drinking extra water, it will allow your body to "flush" the excess salt out and to release the retained water. Think of it this way, your body grows to "expect" a particular amount of sodium and a particular volume of water. It "reserves" water in your body knowing more salt is to come. When you drink a gallon of water over the course of the day, your body "learns" that you are providing plenty of water. Eventually it begins to "trust" that you'll continue doing so and it lets go of the surplus. At seven pounds per gallon, it can add up to a lot of weight quickly. Secondly, we want to discuss how to tell if you are getting enough water. The first step toward turning yourself into a human water meter is to get on a regimen of drinking more water each day. Try to drink twelve (8 ounce) glasses of water each day when you are dieting, and at least eight when you reach your optimal weight. (These are guidelines that must be adjusted using common sense. There may be circumstances such as weather, type of work, body size, physical activity and many others that will require you to drink much more or less than this.) If you are more than twenty pounds overweight, you should drink an extra glass for every 20 pounds over your optimal weight. Once you've been on this regimen for a few weeks, you should notice some changes (beyond being exhausted by the hundreds of trips to the restroom -- just kidding!) Many people report that their skin looks and feels better, that headaches disappear, that they require less sleep and that they simply have more energy. Biologically though, the best way to tell if you are drinking enough water is the color (rather the lack of color) of your urine. Many people think that color in their urine is due to waste being flushed out of the body, but it is, in fact, simply due to a shortage of water. Clear urine means you are drinking plenty of water. Another benefit to drinking plenty of water is that your natural water alarm clock (thirst) will return. Your body will begin to signal to you that it is thirsty since it is no longer in the habit of hoarding water. Listen to your body and you'll continue to lose weight and burn fat. Here are a few tips to help you drink more water each day (if any of these tips work for you, use post-it note reminders until they become habit): 1. Cut peeled citrus fruits into squares and freeze them. Float them in your drinking water and treat yourself to them at the end of each glass. 2. Always carry a big water bottle with you so that you can drink while you are running errands, driving, or waiting. 3. Stop drinking coffee, tea and soda that contain caffeine. Caffeine is a diuretic, which means that it causes your body to lose, or expel, water. Try drinking water with decaffeinated Green Tea Extract, instead. It's delicious. References:
University of Minnesota, Extension Water Quality Program
Weight-Control.Com Michael Callen is the author of the Weekly Weightloss Tips Newsletter and the Chief Technology Officer for Wellness Partners, an online retailer of dozens of health and wellness products.
MORE RESOURCES:
Defining yoga, one style at a timeCommon Ground, CA - 7 hours agoThat’s the philosophy that inspired Jivamukti Yoga founders Sharon Gannon and David Life, who developed the style in their Manhattan studio in 1984. ... |
Library offers beginner's yoga classLog Cabin Democrat, AR - 8 hours agoA beginner's yoga class is being held weekly at the Faulkner County Library. The class is on-going, meeting from 7 to 8 pm on Tuesdays. ... |
Beating stress with yoga in HCTimes of India, India - 3 hours agoNEW DELHI: Lawyers found a novel way to beat stress on Monday which saw Delhi High Court premises play host to a Yoga camp. Organized by the Delhi High ... |
Do the Dog: Gallatin Pre-Finals YogaNYU Local, NY - 2 hours agoIn an apparent bid to keep students from turning to adderall and razor blades as finals approach, Gallatin is offering free pre-finals yoga this Thursday ... |
Yoga - Google News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Results Of Being Overweight
Being overweight is no laughing matter. For those who are obese, it often starts as a young child.
Hoodia Diet Pills - Tremendous Product and Excellent Fraud!
When it comes to the matter of weight loss, peoples always prefer tricky methods. Peoples don't want to learn "Diet Basics"; they don't want to follow healthy food habit; they hate to exercise.
Weight Loss Surgery: Benefits and Risks
You may be considering weight loss surgery if you are overweight or obese. For many people, surgical weight reduction is one of the only viable ways to lose a significant amount of weight and enjoy better health.
Obesity and Fat Control Myths
- Are your ideas of obesity and fat control based on a myth? -For years we heard that a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet would keep us healthy and help us lose weight. And many of us jumped on the bandwagon.
Unearth the Weight Loss Values in an Egg
At the University of Illinois, a new research found that eating high quality protein such as protein found in eggs can help weight loss. An essential amino acid leucine reduces muscle tissue loss, promotes body fat loss and stabilizes blood glucose levels.
How To Get Rid Of Your Belly Fat Or Pooch
The best way you can get rid of your pop belly or pooch is not by doing a certain AB exercise or by using the latest AB gadget---its through Proper diet and exercise.Sit-ups, crunches, AB lounges, & other AB gadgets all play a very small part in getting rid of your pop belly or pooch.
Water - How Important Is It In Our Daily Diet And With Weight Loss?
The importance of drinking water is mentioned in almost every article on weight loss. It is a very important fact that we need to drink water whether we are dieting or not.
Help to Reduce Belly Fat
Can You Lose Weight Where You Want?If you have excess weight only in specific parts of your body, you still must look at yourself as a whole. It's not possible to spot reduce; in other words, you can't dictate that you only want weight to come off one place or another.
Four Common Mistakes that Overweight People Make
I am a Registered Dietitian who has spent over 10,000 hours researching the lifestyle habits of thin people for my book Thin People Don't Clean Their Plates. In this research, I discovered striking differences between the choices that thin people make versus those of overweight people.
The Secret To Permanent Weight Loss
AND SAVE MONEY IN THE PROCESS. The secret is simple and basic.
Keen To Be Lean? - Some Metabolic Musings
Metabolism is the process by which your body changes food into living tissue and changes living tissue into energy and waste products. Metabolic Rate is the speed at which the body uses energy (burns calories.
Weighing-In On Low Carb Diets
With all of the conflicting studies and fuzzy interpretation of information, it's no wonder that confusion reigns when it comes to the value and safety of low-carb diets. It seems like heated debates are raging everywhere! Whether it's Atkins, the South Beach or some other low-carb plan, as many as 30 million Americans are following a low-carb diet.
Mind, Body Weight Loss for life equals behavior change - The Acceptance Factor
Getting to the ROOT of the matter: If the plants in your garden are not healthy looking, just trimming them back will not take care of the problem. What do the roots look like? I am no psychologist, but there is a very interesting twist you need to understand before you begin any weight loss or fitness program.
Action Plan to Take the Weight Off This Year
Addicted to Restaurants
Are you addicted to restaurants? So are lots of Americans. What used to be a "treat," going out for dinner, has become more common that cooking at home, and we think we're better off? Think again.
The Pain of Instant Gratification
What a great world we live in. You want something, you get it! You need something, you buy it! You don't have money, you charge it!You don't deny yourself anything??do you? Why should you? If it feels good -do it!Right?WRONG!As we have found out over the years, feeling good and being good for you are two different things.
Self-Sabotage Snacking After Gastric Bypass Surgery: Why Do We Do It?
LivingAfterWLS reader feedback indicates snacking is the single biggest problem for people after having gastric bypass - the problem being we snack on unhealthy items, we sabotage our weight loss or weight maintenance and we spiral back into the self-loathing that is so much an emotional part of morbid obesity.None of us goes into surgery expecting to be the one "who lost all that weight and put it back on.
Theyre Wide, Theyre Here, Get Used to It
America's Obesity EpidemicAs the numbers of overweight Americans continue to skyrocket, one thing is clear: being obese is the true exception to the rule in a society governed by a culture of gluttony. You can't turn on the television or turn the pages of a magazine without being bombarded by tantalizing images of cheap, marginally nutritious foods.
Burn More Fat With Insulin Control: The Secret Weight Loss Switch
If you're serious about losing weight and getting fit, you might be interested in what I'm about to tell you. If you're like most people who don't have time to do cardio exercise and weight training for a few hours a day, then you need to read on.
Six Secret Tips That Can Help You Lose Weight Fast
1. Include in your diet things that contain more water like tomatoes and watermelons.
5 Tips To Losing Weight With Convenience Food
While it would be ideal to make all of our own snacks and meals from scratch everyday, the plain and simple truth is that most of us simply don't have that kind of time. This is where we turn to convenience foods to meet our dietary and weight loss needs.
|
