Drink up for weight loss! That’s right. Drinking more water can indirectly help you stay lean. Your kidneys need water to do their job of filtering waste products from the body. If they don’t get enough water, the kidneys need backup, so they turn to the liver for help. One of the liver’s many functions is mobilizing stored fat for energy. When it takes on extra work from the kidneys, the liver can’t do its fat-burning job as well. Fat loss is compromised as a result, so you have to drink enough water to keep your body’s fat-burning processes proceeding full steam ahead.
Water is vital for other reasons. It accounts for one-half to four-fifths of your weight and performs countless vital chores in the body. It provides the medium in which life-sustaining chemical reactions take place. Water also serves as a solvent for minerals, vitamins, amino acids, glucose, and many other nutrients. Without water, you can’t even digest these essential nutrients, let alone absorb, transport, and utilize them. When your temperature rises, water is to your body what coolant is to the radiator of your car. Water is so essential that you’ll die within a week without it.
The amount of water you need for good health varies, depending partly on your activity level. On average, you should drink a minimum of eight to ten cups of water every day if you’re not active. Since you’ll be exercising, you need this minimum, but it’s also a good idea to replace the fluids lost during exercise.
You can easily tell if you’re not getting enough water by noting the following signs:FatigueLoss of appetiteFlushed skinHeat intoleranceLight-headednessDark urine with a strong odor
Today you can have spring water, mineral water, tap water, and sparkling water, and the list goes on. With so many choices, which one’s for you?
The most convenient choice is tap water straight from your faucet. Tap water contains a variety of minerals. In most cities, it’s chlorinated and fluoridated. The mineral content in tap water varies regionally, and the amount of chlorine and fluoride added to water is federally and locally regulated.
Bottled water is generally a better choice than tap water because of possible contamination of tap water. Tap water in many areas contains contaminants such as pesticides, chlorine by-products, and harmful microorganisms. If you drink tap water, a good move is to buy a water purifier, which filters out some contaminants. No matter what kind of water you choose, the bottom line is to drink lots of it.
Andrea Metcalf is a healthy lifestyle expert and author of Naked Fitness, a 28 Day Proven Weight Loss Program for a Slimmer, Fitter, You. (Vanguard Press) Like her facebook page Andrea Metcalf Health to win in the 31 Days of Healthy Ideas for January 2012. Each day she will be telling you about a great idea and giving it away to one lucky winner when you comment on the item. Follow on twitter to learn more @andreametcalf
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