Water to Promote Weight Loss

"Incredible as it may seem, water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off"
-- Dr. Donald S. Robertson

Why is water so important for weight loss? It helps the body metabolize stored fat into energy. How is this done? When the kidneys don’t get enough water, they will not function optimally. When the kidneys don’t function optimally, the liver steps in to take on some of the kidneys’ load. When the liver is preoccupied with some of the functions of the kidney, the liver cannot fully perform one of its main roles: taking stored fat and metabolizing it into energy for the body. The result: slowed metabolism and fat retention. Water helps to keep the fat-burning liver doing its important job.

Water also helps to alleviate constipation. If the body isn’t getting enough water, it will siphon off water from the colon, the primary source of water in the body. The result is slowed or stopped bowels. Not what we want when we’re releasing excess weight. (Yes, stools add weight—which is why it is advised to weigh ourselves after we have eliminated—and before we’ve consumed anything for the day.)

Overweight people need more water than thinner people. Generally, our bodies need eight 8-oz glasses of water every day. This amount does not include the juices, teas, and other beverages we drink throughout the day. For every 25 lbs. that a person is overweight, one additional glass of water is needed. So, if your optimal weight is 150 lbs, and you weigh 200 lbs, drink two extra glasses of water each day to start and decrease as you drop the weight to 150 lb.

If we exercise heavily or if we live in a hot and dry climate, we should also drink more than eight glasses of water each day.

Dr. Donald Robertson recommends the following schedule to utilize water most efficiently during weight loss:

Morning: 1 quart consumed over a 30-minute period
Noon: 1 quart consumed over a 30-minute period
Evening: 1 quart consumed between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.

Since water is so important to weight loss and we’re drinking so much of it each day, what is better to drink: bottled or tap water? The latest word is that tap water is a better choice than bottled. Research shows that 40% of bottled water comes from a tap anyway (Aquafina and Dasani by Pepsi and Coca-Cola both are tap water in a bottle). Bottled water does not have as strict testing standards as municipal water supplies. One brand of bottled water was labeled “spring water” and it actually came from a well in Massachusetts that was in the parking lot of an industrial facility.

The best bet is to buy a filter for your home tap water. They are the most cost effective and do the least environmental damage. Reverse-osmosis and carbon filters are good buys.

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