How much water should you drink daily for weight loss?

Author: Mikhail Ziborov - author of the site makefitness.pro.
2020-03-06

Water is the main solvent in our body. Thanks to water, a vast number of chemical reactions take place in the body, collectively known as metabolism or metabolic processes. Weight loss (fat burning) is also a type of metabolism (although, to be fair, it should be noted that one aspect of metabolism is catabolism, i.e., breakdown). Do you see the connection? Metabolism depends on water, and weight loss is part of metabolism. Therefore, the reduction of excess weight depends on water.

How Water Affects the Body and Weight Loss

We have already understood that many processes in our body depend on water. Now imagine that you want to lose a few extra kilograms and get your figure in shape. You started to adhere to a proper nutrition plan and began training (it doesn’t matter whether it’s exercises at home or in a gym). And now you're in the middle of your workout and start feeling thirsty. Water is essential for a person, even one who spends the entire day lounging on the couch, let alone someone who is exercising. And it is needed for the following reasons:

• To maintain optimal viscosity and acidity of the blood;
• To dissolve various substances;
• To eliminate waste products from nutrients and toxins;
• To maintain electrolyte balance.

Blood viscosity. The thicker the blood, the harder it is for the heart to pump it; but if it is too thin, that is not good either. Therefore, balance is important, which the body monitors itself.

Water is a universal solvent. And this solvent works for almost everything: vitamins and minerals, nutrients, including subcutaneous fat, etc. To successfully lose weight, water is essential.

Elimination of toxins. Adipose tissue is an excellent place for accumulating various food waste. Let’s conditionally call this waste "toxins." We burn fats, and during their breakdown, on one hand, we gain energy, while on the other, we produce waste (those same toxins) that the body can no longer use. What’s the solution? To excrete them from the body through urine. This is precisely why people who lose weight but do not consume enough water feel unwell and experience weakness.

Water-salt and electrolyte balance. In a narrow sense, electrolytes are minerals necessary for the functioning of muscles, the nervous system, internal organs, and overall metabolism. These minerals are consumed during physical activity. For example, calcium is needed for muscle contraction, while magnesium is required for relaxation. Water contains many trace elements in varying concentrations. Since water passes through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and is absorbed extremely quickly, minerals can be delivered quickly to where they are needed. Moreover, adipose tissue is very reluctant to be burned by the body; primarily, water and glycogen—compressed sugar that provides energy—leave the cells first. Both electrolytes and water need to be regularly replenished for good well-being.

How to Lose Weight with Water (Current Techniques)

Drink after waking up. Drinking 400-450 ml right after you get out of bed can boost your metabolism by 20-30% for about an hour and a half. This means that while you go through your morning routine and prepare breakfast, your body will already be burning calories. Moreover, you will replenish the water that your cells lacked during the night. This was mentioned by Jeff Cavaliere, a physiotherapist and experienced athlete, in his video "A Healthy Morning Habit — Anyone Can Start Doing This." His words are supported by the research "Water Drinking Induces Thermogenesis through Osmosensitive Mechanisms."

Water before and during meals. Research has shown that drinking water 20 minutes before a meal reduces hunger, and as a result, a person consumes 75-90 fewer calories than if they hadn't drunk water. The only requirement is to drink slowly in small sips so that the water flows down the left side of the stomach (lesser curvature), is quickly absorbed, and produces the described effect. The volume of water to drink 20 minutes before a meal is 150 ml (just over half a cup).

Furthermore, if you drink water during a meal, your stomach fills up faster; the total volume of food along with the water presses against the stomach walls and signals the brain that the body is full — it's time to stop eating. In fact, water contains no calories. The result is that you eat less. However, again, there’s a condition: now we drink quickly in large gulps and consume 250-300 ml (a full cup). This volume does not quickly pass through the stomach and presses against the stomach walls along with the food. You can learn about these two effects and much more useful information about water from Andrey Skoromny’s video "Water as a Main Component of Food" (in the "Under the Seal" section).

Drinking requires calories. Drinking water at approximately room temperature (22 degrees Celsius) forces the body to heat it to a comfortable temperature. As you can understand, this requires energy, which has to come from somewhere. If we don’t get enough energy from food (we intentionally create a calorie deficit and eat slightly less than what our norm requires), then the body begins to draw this energy from its reserves — fat tissue. This information is presented in the 2010 study "Drink Water to Curb Weight Gain? Clinical Trial Confirms Effectiveness of Simple Appetite Control Method."

How Much Water Should You Drink a Day to Lose Weight

If we generalize the figures, it is 2000-2500 ml of pure drinking water per day. But these are general recommendations, and they will not be applicable for a 48-kilogram girl and a 100-kilogram guy. Therefore, it is better to rely on your individual characteristics.

The easiest way is to use a smartphone app, which initially calculates your daily water intake norm (taking into account height, weight, age, and other parameters). One such app is "Drink Water Reminder". It’s convenient: individual calculations tailored for you, tracking your water intake, your habits, and constant reminders.

So, the calculations from this app provided the following figure for a 27-year-old guy weighing 76 kg and 167 cm tall: 2450 ml of water per day. This is his norm, which corresponds to general recommendations.

And if you think that 2.5 liters of water a day is a lot, let’s break it down. You wake up and immediately drink 350-400 ml of water. Let’s say you eat the standard three meals a day. Drink 150 ml of water 20 minutes before each meal (a total of 450 ml). During the meals, drink 250-300 ml (a total of 750-900 ml). Now let’s calculate everything together: morning 350 ml + before eating 450 ml + during meals 750 ml = 1500 ml. The daily norm for the guy is 2450 ml – 1500 ml = 950 ml. He has to drink just less than one liter throughout the day. Isn’t that manageable, considering that the body uses a lot of water during exercise? The figure is quite reasonable.

Should You Count Only Pure Water or All Fluids Consumed

We consider only pure drinking water. Everything else – teas, coffee, beverages, even amino acids dissolved in water (for athletes) – isn't water anymore; it's a solution. Of course, if you drink only tea throughout the day, the body will have to use that liquid for its needs, but we want the best, right? So only PURE DRINKING WATER! It’s like filling a car with good and bad quality gasoline: it will run on both, but the second will cause greater wear and tear on the engine.

About the possibility of counting all liquid consumed, you can read on Boris Tsatsulin's website cmtscience.ru in the articles "How Much Water Should You Drink a Day?" and "Water Balance: How Much Water Should You Drink and How Often?" The materials provide links to studies that show why it should be this way and not otherwise.

By the way, frequent trips to the bathroom due to increased water intake is normal; in fact, it’s excellent. It means your kidneys are functioning well.

Conclusion

We understand that water is essential for good well-being, basic life, and weight loss. However, in the issue of losing excess weight, water is not the main tool; it is an additional one. The primary tools are nutrition and physical activity.