Water - Nature's Gift!

Don’t roll your eyes! The potion for losing excess body fat is all around you. It covers two thirds of the planet. Most people don’t drink enough water. Most people are also carrying around a few more pounds then they would be if they did drink enough water. If you can’t seem to get that weight off, try “drowning your sorrows” in nature’s weight-loss mineral!

Let’s talk about the function of water in our body:

From “Dr A’s Habits of Health”, page 114-115:

“Water plays a key role in supporting health, particularly during weight loss when it helps remove toxins and other unhealthy substances stored in your fat cells. Being well-hydrated helps all your organs and systems function properly. In fact, every function in your body takes place in water. It’s the solvent that moves nutrients, hormones, antibodies, and oxygen through your bloodstream and lymphatic system, and removes waste. And of course, it’s essential to your kidney’s ability to filter and eliminate metabolic byproducts and toxins. If you don’t drink enough, your body is forced to recycle dirty water, diminishing the efficiency of every metabolic function.”

Benefits of water:

Improves endocrine (hormone) function
Increases metabolic function
Decreases appetite
Increases fat used for energy
Liver function improves
Decreases fluid retention
Increases natural thirst

Your lungs expel between 2 & 4 cups of water each day through normal breathing – even more on a cold day. If your feet sweat, there goes another cup of water. If you make half a dozen trips to the bathroom during the day, that’s six cups of water. If you perspire, you expel about 2 cups of water (which doesn’t include exercise-induced perspiration). In “Dr A’s Habits of Health”, he states we “…actually lose nearly twelve cups of water every day. And in high altitudes or dry environments, you lose even more…”

Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don’t have enough water in your body to carry on normal functions. Eight glasses of water every day is recommended. That amounts to about 2 quarts of water. This is adequate for the average size person, but if you’re overweight, you should drink more. You should also up this if you live in a hot climate or exercise very intensely. An easy thing for me to remember is to drink as close to 100 ounces as possible, every day!

Some signs of dehydration may include:

Excessive thirst
Fatigue
Headache
Dry mouth
Little or no urination
Muscle weakness
Dizziness
Lightheadedness

Have you ever experienced some of the above symptoms and thought that you needed to eat? I have!

How about first grabbing an 8-12 ounce glass of water and seeing if that doesn’t help? It sure won’t hurt!

Additional Benefits of drinking water:

Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. A decrease in water intake may cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water can actually reduce fat deposits. Here’s why: The kidneys can’t function properly without enough water. When they don’t work to capacity, some of their load is dumped onto the liver. One of the liver’s primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. But, if the liver has to do some of the kidney’s work, it can’t operate at full throttle. As a result, it metabolizes less fat, more fat remains stored in the body and weight loss stops.

Drinking enough water is a great treatment for fluid retention. If the body receives plenty of water, the body will be able to release stored water (fluid retention). Remember, as your kidneys excrete water, it also takes away excess sodium which will also help reduce fluid retention.

Water helps to maintain proper muscle tone by giving muscles their natural ability to contract. You can lift weights until you’re blue in the face, but if your muscles are suffering from a drought, you won’t notice a pleasant difference in your appearance. Muscles that have all the water they need contract more easily, making your workout more effective and you’ll look much nicer than if you had flabby muscles under sagging skin.

Water also helps prevent the sagging skin – shrinking cells are buoyed by water, which plumps the skin and leaves it clear, healthy and resilient. Water flushes out impurities in your skin and can leave you with a clear, younger looking, glowing complexion!

Water can help relieve constipation. When the body gets too little water, it siphons what it needs from internal sources. The colon is one primary source. When a person drinks enough water, normal bowel function can return.

“I’ve tried it and I couldn’t stand it!”

Many decide to increase their water intake but few stick with it. That’s understandable. During the first few days of drinking more water than your body is accustomed to, you’re running to the bathroom constantly. This can be discouraging and it can certainly interfere with an otherwise normal day at work. It seems that the water is coming out just as fast as it’s going in, and many people decide that their new hydration habit is fruitless.

Have courage! What is really happening is that your body is flushing itself of the water it has been storing throughout all those years of “survival mode”. It takes s a while, but this is a great thing happening to you. As you continue to give your body all the water it could ask for, it gets rid of what it doesn’t need. It gets rid of the water it was holding onto in your ankles and your hips and thighs, maybe even around your belly! You are excreting much more than you realize. Your body figures it doesn’t need to save these stores anymore; it’s trusting that the water will keep coming, and if it does, eventually, the flushing will cease, allowing the human to return to a normal life. This is called the “breakthrough point.”

Tips to “Get it in!”

Water consumption is best when spread throughout the day. Try to pick three or four times a day when you can have a big glass of water, and then sip in between. Don’t let yourself get thirsty. If you feel thirsty, you are already becoming dehydrated. Drink when you’re not thirsty yet.

It’s probably a good idea to stop drinking water a few hours before you go to bed. YOU KNOW WHY!

“Cold or not?” This is debatable. Most experts lean toward cold water. It is absorbed more quickly when cold. Some evidence suggests that drinking cold water can actually burn more calories! On the other hand, some people drink warm water more easily, therefore may drink more of it! Do whatever suits you. JUST DRINK IT!