Does water help you lose weight

Statistics: water helps you lose weight

Many scientific experiments have proven the link between drinking and weight loss.

Take the Stanford study, which involved over a hundred overweight women.

Scientists selected those who drank less than 1 liter of water per day and simply changed their drinking regime, increasing the amount of fluid they drink to about 2 liters. The study lasted exactly one year. During this time, subjects' weight and waist circumference were regularly measured. And in the end, the researchers found that the water caused weight loss: every woman, without changing her lifestyle, dropped up to 2 kilograms.

Another study was conducted in schools. In 32 educational institutions in Germany, fountains with drinking water have been installed so that children can quench their thirst at the earliest opportunity. And the schoolchildren were given several lectures on how useful water can be.

And again, impressive results: at the end of the school year, it was found that regular drinking reduces the risk of being overweight by 31%. The study involved nearly 3,000 primary school children.

So the combination "drink and you will be slim" can be considered statistically proven. But let's see what physiology says on this score.

Science: water makes you lose weight, and here's why

Studies show that water has a range of properties that can speed up weight loss (or keep fit if you're not already overweight). Here they are.

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 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. About so much you would lose if you swam at a calm pace for half an hour, walked for 40 minutes, or washed the floors a little over half an hour.

Please note: if you drink cold water, the calorie consumption will be even higher, since the body has to spend energy to heat the incoming moisture to body temperature.

2. Water reduces calorie intake

If you quench your thirst with water, it means that you do not quench it with other drinks, which can be much higher in calories: lemonades, cola, sweet tea, juices, fruit drinks, milk. It seems like a trifle, but in fact, the reduction in calorie content is quite significant: on average, as studies show, a water lover consumes almost 200 kilocalories per day less than one 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 glasses) of water three times a day: half an hour before breakfast, lunch and dinner. More young ladies were not limited in anything.

Eight weeks later, it turned out that the women had decreased appetite: to get full, 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 you lose weight or keep yourself in shape does not mean that you need to drink, drink and drink right from today.

Lifehacker already wrote about the norms of water consumption: this is 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.

It is not recommended to exceed these norms in order not to get acquainted with such an unpleasant and even dangerous phenomenon as water intoxication.

It is important to treat liquid as a medicine: in small doses it is almost useless, in large doses it becomes poison. Therefore, stick to the above golden mean, and you will lose weight.