Water plays a vital role in detoxifying your body - flushing out toxins from your cells and liver. Hydration helps your muscles sustain exercise and avoid excess cramping. Sufficient water intake protects your adrenal systems and wards off kidney stones. Water also helps hydrate your brain - promoting alertness and brain function. And get ready for this...water burns calories!! Well it can burn calories if you drink it cold or hot...your body uses calories to bring water back to your body's internal temperature (98.6 degrees). So increasing your cold or hot water intake can overtime increase your caloric burn. (Fitness Blender has more interesting research on hydration and weight loss.)
Eight glasses of water a day is the mantra many of us have heard over and over. And for some that is ideal. But for those of us who would fall in the "obese" category -- we need more water. More fat = more toxins = more water. But just how much? A formula that was given to me by a nutritionist years ago was this: your weight divided by 2 = number of ounces to drink each day. So if my weight is 278 - I divide that by 2 and get 139 oz. -- divide by 8oz. and I get a goal of 17 to 18 glasses a day! Wow! That's a lot of water! I've started carrying around a 32 oz. water bottle and refilling it as often as I can. It's easier for me to mentally strive for refilling that jug 4 times a day rather than tracking 17 glasses. Using 16 oz. pint glasses is also a trick to help increase your water.
Can you drink too much water? Yes and no. You need to balance your mineral intake with water intake. Minerals are VITAL to vitamin absorption. Without minerals in your system your electrolyte counts can get off balance. With the right balance of water and minerals, hydration can be your best tool for weight loss. One easy way to balance water and minerals is to mix Emergen-C powder into your water - adding flavor as well as minerals. I also use lemons, limes, and pineapple to flavor my water. In the morning, I fill a pitcher with water and slices of one fruit. The fruit and water marry in the pitcher and add flavor and lymphatic benefits.
The real key is hydration - proper hydration has dramatic effects on improved health. Water is the healthiest source for hydration but do keep in mind that juice and milk and caffeine free teas also hydrate. Caffeine has a negative affect on hydration and should you indulge in soda or coffee or caffeinated teas - you should add an extra glass of water to counter the caffeine. Also, keep in mind that milk and juice and soda have excessive sugars that spike insulin and can hinder weight loss. Hence we arrive again at water as the best hydration option. So with that...I'm off to the kitchen to fill my glass...again.
No comments:
Post a Comment