2976: Can Drinking More Water Help You Lose Weight? by Adda Bjarnadottir with Healthline

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[00:00:55] This is Optimal Health Daily. Can drinking more water help you lose weight? By Ada Bjornadotter with Healthline.com. And I'm Dr. Neil Malek. Hey there, happy Monday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, where I act as your narrator of the best health and fitness blogs all for free. And always with a bit of my commentary at the end. And don't forget, we have a bunch of shows covering different topics. Just search for Optimal Living Daily in any podcast app to find them.

[00:01:25] But for now, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life. Can drinking more water help you lose weight? By Ada Bjornadotter with Healthline.com. Drinking water can help burn calories and reduce hunger cravings. Replacing sugary drinks with water can also lower caloric and sugar intake. But there isn't enough evidence that water itself can help you lose weight.

[00:01:54] For a long time, drinking water has been thought to help with weight loss. In fact, in a study published in 2019 that took place between 2015 and 2016, 26.3% of participants reported drinking a lot of water in an attempt to lose weight. Some research suggests that drinking more water is linked with weight loss, but the evidence is insufficient to suggest a direct cause and effect relationship.

[00:02:21] Listen on to learn more about whether drinking water can help you lose weight. Does drinking water make you burn calories? Water consumption is associated with increased sympathetic activity. Your body's sympathetic system activates things like heart rate and metabolism. Therefore, drinking water may help increase your metabolic rate and how much energy or calories you burn.

[00:02:46] In a 2023 study, researchers found that people who drank 200 to 250 milliliters, or 6.8 to 8.5 ounces of warm water after each meal, lost more weight, and registered a lower body mass index, or BMI, than the control group who didn't. In an older study, participants were given water, saline solution, or sucrose to drink.

[00:03:12] They were then measured for these drinks' impact on their resting energy expenditure, or basically how many calories they burned at rest. Room temperature water had no effect. While cooled water showed a small increase of 23 calories burned daily. That said, the sucrose drink showed a much more significant increase in energy expenditure. This raises doubts about the effectiveness of water by itself for managing obesity. More research should focus specifically on the effect of

[00:03:41] hot versus cold fluids on energy expenditure. Does drinking water before meals reduce appetite and calorie intake? When you drink water instead of other beverages, which may be high in calories and sugar, you are naturally reducing calorie consumption. Also, some people claim that drinking water before a meal reduces appetite. But is this true? One 2018 study suggests that drinking water before meals may help you feel less hungry and eat less,

[00:04:11] but only in those of average body weight and body mass index. It's unclear how well this applies to those who are overweight or those with obesity. Research from 2016 suggests the following. When you are not dieting or monitoring your nutrition, choosing to drink water over high-calorie drinks may help you consume fewer calories. For those who have problems with their metabolism or those with obesity, drinking water may help burn more calories.

[00:04:38] And drinking water can stimulate your body to break down fat without raising your blood sugar or insulin, which may also support weight loss. That said, another 2018 study showed no evidence that drinking more water has any effect on body weight among adolescents who are overweight or those with obesity. Here too, it can only be concluded that more research is necessary on this subject. Does drinking more water lower the chance of weight gain?

[00:05:06] Drinking water may also help prevent long-term weight gain. According to a 2013 study, the average person gains about 1.45 kilograms or about 3.2 pounds every four years. According to the study, those who consumed one extra cup of water daily lowered their weight gain by 0.13 kilograms or about 0.23 pounds. Those who substituted a serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage with one cup of water

[00:05:34] reduced their four-year weight gain by half a kilogram or about 1.1 pounds. Sugar-sweetened beverages would be something like one can of Pepsi, which contains 25 calories and almost 7 grams of sugar. In a 2019 review study, researchers found that drinking more water was linked with more weight loss. The weight loss ranged from between 0.4 and 8.8 kilograms and the average weight loss was 5% of the individual's body weight.

[00:06:04] However, the researchers said the most weight loss was seen when water was the beverage of choice rather than high calorie options. This once again suggests that water consumption itself did not lead to weight loss. How much water should I drink a day to lose weight? Many health authorities recommend drinking 8 8-ounce glasses of water per day, which would be about 2 liters. However, a 2017 study actually found no concrete association

[00:06:32] between drinking this specific amount of water daily and weight loss in adolescents with overweight or those with obesity. Also, water requirements actually depend entirely on the individual. For example, those who sweat a lot or exercise regularly may need more water than those who are not as active. Older individuals and nursing parents also need to monitor their water intake more closely. Keep in mind that you also get water from many foods and beverages such as coffee,

[00:07:02] tea, meat, fish, milk, and especially fruits and vegetables. As a good rule of thumb, you should always drink water when you're thirsty and drink enough to quench your thirst. If you find you have dry skin, dark urine, or feel unusually tired, you may be mildly dehydrated. Drinking more water may of course help fix this. Here are the quantities of fluids you should typically drink in a day based on different measurements. In liters, 2.2 liters for females

[00:07:32] and 3 liters for males. In ounces, 74 ounces for females and 101 ounces for males. And in cups, which is 8 ounces, 9 cups for females and 13 cups for males. However, these are just general guidelines. Some may need less while others may need a lot more. For specific information about your water intake, you can talk with a healthcare professional. Frequently asked questions. Can you lose belly fat

[00:08:01] by drinking water? There's currently no research supporting the idea that drinking water can help you lose belly fat. So, any suggestion to that is purely anecdotal. How much weight will I lose on a water fast for a few days? A 2021 study examining 45 participants without overweight or obesity found that drinking only water for 5 days resulted in a loss of nearly 5 kilograms of body weight or about 11 pounds. That said,

[00:08:31] without medical supervision, water fasts are neither safe nor recommended by healthcare professionals. They can lead to life-threatening complications such as low sodium and brain swelling. Also, any weight loss during this time is likely to only be water weight. Eating a balanced diet and staying physically active is a more sustainable and safe way to lose weight long term. Takeaway Water can be a helpful part of a weight loss journey. It's 100% calorie free,

[00:08:59] may help you burn more calories, and may even suppress your appetite if consumed before meals. The benefits are even greater when you replace sugary beverages with water. It can be a simple way to reduce sugar and calorie intake at the same time. However, there is not enough evidence that drinking more water can directly lead to weight loss. If you need to lose a significant amount of weight, it will require a weight loss plan that involves more health promoting actions in addition to drinking more water.

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[00:11:28] So, you've probably heard lots of different recommendations when it comes to how much water we should be consuming each day. You might here drink 64 fluid ounces each day. Others will say 6 to 8 glasses of water per day. I really don't like the 6 to 8 glasses of water recommendation because glasses come in different sizes. For example, a shot glass only holds about 1 to 3 ounces of liquid. So, 6 to 8 shot glasses of water would not get us

[00:11:58] anywhere near close to what the body actually needs. Plus, today's author was absolutely right when they said that water needs are different for everybody. If someone is exercising outdoors in the middle of summer, they will probably need more than the standard 64 fluid ounces. So, how do we know whether we're consuming enough water or fluids in general? It sounds disgusting, but the best way to know is to look at your urine color. Light yellow urine is the goal.

[00:12:28] Think lemonade. That's the color we're aiming for. If your urine is clear most of the time, then you're probably consuming too much water, so you're over-hydrating. If it's dark yellow, then you're dehydrated. So, again, most of the time, if your urine is light yellow in color, then you're probably perfectly hydrated. Alright, that'll do it for another edition of Optimal Health Daily. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for being here every day, and I hope you have a great start to your week,

[00:12:58] and of course, I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.