Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Best Way to Lose Those Extra Pounds - Add Water to Your Body

By Ricardo d Argence

Sometimes dehydration takes on the feeling of hunger. We are in a constant state of dehydration, and as a culture, we have become accustomed to not getting the recommended daily amount of water. This lack of water is hindering weight loss goals in some cases.

If you try drinking water instead of stuffing your face with some fattening choices your body will be equally satisfied as all it knows is that it needs liquids in some form. Losing weight is not the only reason to stay well hydrated. Your body uses water in many different ways. That's not surprising, given that you're made up of 60% water.

To flush toxins through the kidneys is the main job of water in the body. This removes all the harmful stuff from our bodies that we come in contact with everyday. If you don't drink sufficient water the kidneys may not work as they must. That gives the mass of their work to the liver.

The main function of the liver is to metabolize fat, but it has other jobs as well. When kidneys are not functioning properly it will help the body maintain health. You can see where this is headed, the lack of fluids depletes the effectiveness of the kidneys, which makes the liver step up limiting the amount of fat it can metabolize.

Another reasons that make drinking water so important are: it is a large part of the blood, 92%, which is the body's transport system for vitamins, minerals, nutrients; it also assist digestion, lack of water leads to poor nutrition; lastly, water regulates body temperature.

In addition to helping curb your appetite by making you feel fuller, drinking water can increase your metabolism. Citing a study done by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, metabolism was increased 30% simply by drinking 500ml of water a day.

This process responsible for the jump in metabolism is warming the water to the body temperature. Drinking ice water can burn more than 70 additional calories a day, simply by increasing metabolism. That in and of itself doesn't sound like much but over time, it can really add up.

In addition to all the great benefits listed above water will increase skin elasticity, decrease headaches, give you more energy, and overall make you feel so much better. Drinking the correct amount of water every day has even been linked to healthy vision.

The recommendation is eight glasses per day, however, any increase is better than none. At least shoot for five to eight glasses in a 24-hour period. This is best done by slowly sipping on water throughout the day, a sudden onslaught of eight glasses water at one time will likely run straight through and not give you the benefits mentioned above. - 15437

About the Author: