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pink_lady76 | 19:11 Mon 14th Aug 2006 | Science
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Why does water help with weight loss. I've been told to drink lots of it and it will help when dieting? Is carbonated water as good?
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well first of all, it washes toxins out of your system. secondly, alot of the time hunger is thirst, so having a glass of water could stop you snacking. Lou x
and even if your hunger is due to you not eating for 32 hours, water will still temporarily fill your stomach. not recommended though as this may cause death by starvation
I can give you some physiological explanations why water helps with weight loss which should fall in line with the views of dieters.

The first thing that you have to remember is that human kidneys need a constantly high throughput of water or other fluids in order to function correctly. The brain constantly monitors the quantity of water being dealt with, and if the quantity falls below a certain level per hour, the work of the kidneys is partially offloaded on to the liver.

The liver has around thirty functions in the human body, but one of its principal functions is to metabolise stored triglyceride fats into energy. Now, when the liver has to perform the filtration functions of the kidneys, the liver will reduce or even stop its fat metabolising functions as it cannot do both jobs at the same time. More fat then remains in the body and body weight increases.

Obese people place a larger metabolic load on the liver because the liver has to work overtime to metabolise the fats. Therefore, it may be seen that the last thing the liver of an obese person needs is to have the function of the kidneys offloaded on it as well. It follows, that to prevent this happening, obese people need a high daily water intake.

(continued)
The second reason is largely a legacy of human evolution. When the body is given less water than it requires, the brain thinks that the survival of the body is at risk. The brain then takes steps to ensure that key areas of the body retain every spare drop of water possible. The water is stored in the spaces between the cells of the body in high quantities and becomes virtually innaccesible to the body as a whole.

Much of this water is stored around the arms, legs and ankles and results in what is known as oedema. This water adds weight to the human body and contributes to obesity. Once again, drinking water in quantity reduces the risk of contracting the problem.

(It should be noted that ankle oedema is sometimes indicative of hypertension and/or cardiac problems and in these cases , medical advice should be sought even though it is still water retention)

The third reason is that water helps the body get rid of waste. During weight loss, the body has an excessive amount of fat containing waste to dispose of. High water volume flushes this waste through the gastrointestinal tract rapidly.

Another closely related but unpleasant reason to drink lots of water is that if your total water intake is low, the body will extract the water it needs from your lower intestine resulting in constipation!

As long as you can tolerate the gas, you might just as well use carbonated water as still water. They are as good as each other otherwise.

loukr is right about thirst hiding under the guise of hunger. The next time you feel hungry between meals, try drinking a couple of tumblers of water. Wait around twenty minutes and see if your still hungry. It works for me some of the time when I can't get to the refectory.
Too much water will make you ill.
As Monster-S has suggested, it is possible to drink too much water, especially during strenuous exercise. See this link: http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s90 4374.htm

You can also google "drink too much water" to find loads of information. Be careful.
Hyponatraema is a recognised danger amongst those that take part in marathons and vigorous exercise regimes. Isotonic sports drinks have helped reduced the risk in recent years, but I acknowledge that it still occurs.

Nevertheless, this lady was asking for information here on water intake for dieting purposes. Under these circumstances, the recommended normal intake of water for an adult is very roughly around two litres of water per day and it should be remembered that most of us do not achieve that level of water intake.

There is therefore some scope for most of us to increase our water intake, with the exception of those with oedema, cardiac problems, kidney disease and hypertension. As for excessive water consumption, the human body is well capable of warning us when water intake has become excessively high. The need to rush to the toilet frequently along with high urine output will soon make the lifestyle intolerable. You need only ask someone who's on diuretic treatment to verify this - I can almost guarantee they have had to change their habits.

You also have to remember that sportsmen/sportswomen including marathon runners have only one goal in mind whilst running and when such determination is present, these warning signals from the body are hindered subconciously. The minute they cross the finishing line, they become all too well aware of what has happened to their bodies.

I very much doubt that any of these adverse conditions would arise in a sedentary or normally active dieter as these key criteria will not have been met.
Theprof - have you copyrighted all that? or can I cut and paste it into my next essay?
It can't be copyrighted. Click on "Terms of Use" at the bottom of the page and check Term 7.

Firstly, I could play the heavy-handed professor here and tell you you're not going to learn anything by copying the work of others. Researching matters yourself and coming to your own conclusions is the only sure method of success and I can't encourage what you propose..

On the other hand, I'm feeling generous today so I'll give you permission to use the contents of my posts on this one thread as long as it doesn't fall foul of Terms 4 and/or 5 of the terms of use. Apart from that, just check that your teachers/lecturers don't post on AB too or the game's up.

We've got a busy unit here at uni devoted to student plagiarism. Watch yourself - there's a lot of it about and someone else may have copied the same posts as you.
Amara:

I've just been thinking a bit more about your proposal. If AB hold the copyright to my posts, it might be said that you need to seek permission from them not me.

Can't you find someone better qualified than me to copy from?

Ah well, nearly time to go home.
Sounds like someones been copying from wikipedia.
Thanks prof for your generosity - I was only joking, but you just put it all so beautifully and it really is too hot here to do much real work studying at the moment. Have a great evening. Amara xx
Monster-S:

I'll think you'll find without fail that every true scientist who posts on AB, has nothing but contempt for Wikipedia. I've had good reason to point that out its errors in some of my recent posts.

Copying from a source that can be edited and abused by everyone from a schoolboy to Stephen Hawking would be stupid in the extreme.

I like you're thinking all the same!!
Thanks Amara and all the best with your studies.
Ok prof, so what are you a scientist or a prof of then?
A Professor of Biochemistry.

Degrees in Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry from Bachelors through to D.Phil and ScD.

I'll also throw in a fellowships of few learned institutions if you like.
Very Nice.
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