QuestionI recently read the following. Has anyone heard about it? Can you elaborate?
"Can you please elaborate on the following.... how do you know what is enough and when is enough?
On the average, a person should drink eight 8-ounce glasses every day. That's about 2 quarts. However, the overweight person needs one additional glass for every 25 pounds of excess weight. The amount you drink also should be increased if you exercise briskly or if the weather is hot and dry. Water should preferably be cold - it's absorbed into the system more quickly than warm water. And some evidence suggests that drinking cold water can actually help burn calories. When the body gets the water it needs to function optimally, its fluids are perfectly balanced. Once this happens you have reached the "breakthrough point". What does this mean?
Endocrine-gland function improves.
Fluid retention is alleviated as stored water is lost.
More fat is used as fuel because the liver is free to metabolize stored fat.
Natural thirst returns.
There is loss of hunger almost overnight.
If you stop drinking enough water, your body fluids will be thrown out of balance again, and you may experience fluid retention, unexplained weight gain and loss of thirst. To remedy the situation you'll have to go back and force another "breakthrough"."
AnswerHi Amanda,
First of all, I am a firm believer in the wisdom of the body. It's natural for me because I know so many wonderful things about how the body regulates the processes inside itself -- if we don't resist of course. The sense of thirst is one of those sensory keys that are left to us practically intact though many other senses, like appetite, are badly disturbed by our way of life. But back to the water question.
There's no accepted term (or I failed to find it in scientific literature) for "water breakthrough" in physiology or nutrition. The term is used in chemistry, for example, to describe polymerization (e.g. resins) and in hydrogeology, to describe water behavior in wells, ponds, etc.
Now, regarding your quote. True, "the amount you drink also should be increased if you exercise briskly or if the weather is hot and dry" -- but I doubt that "cold water is absorbed into the system more quickly than warm water."
Is it true that "drinking cold water can actually help burn calories"? Let's calculate.
Let's say you drink a 16-ounce glass of ice water. This will make your body work to warm this amount of water from zero to 37 degrees C and in doing so, to "burn" 17.5 Calories from your fat stores. How many grams of body fat will you burn?
To get rid of 456 grams of fat (1 pound,) your body should burn 3,500 Calories. Thus, you should drink 200 16-ounce glasses of water. To lose 1 pound of pure fat a week, you'd have to manage to put into your body 28.5 16-ounce glasses of water a day!
As to the list of body reactions attributed to "water breakthrough," they normally occur without any such things if water is available to satisfy your thirst so there's no dehydration in your body.
I suggest that you read more on the topic following these links:
How Much Water You Really Need
http://dietandbody.com/article1229.html
Facts about water and weight loss
http://dietandbody.com/FAQ/2007/01/facts-about-water-and-weight-loss.html
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