Does Drinking Hot Water Help You Lose Weight?

Trying to lose those extra pounds? Well the solution may be as easy as turning on your kitchen faucet. Drinking water on a daily basis--whether hot or cold--while maintaining a healthy lifestyle, can help you shed those pounds.

Hot Vs. Cold

Even though drinking water, whether hot or cold, is good for you, the closer to body temperature the water is that you consume, the easier your body will digest it. Hot water makes your digestive system work smoothly, and it improves blood circulation. Plus, drinking too much cold water can overstimulate the kidneys.

Consumption

Drinking 64 oz. of water a day can burn nearly 35,000 calories a year, or about 10 pounds, according to MayoClinic.com. Drinking 8 to 12 cups of water, whether hot or cold, daily is safe. Drinking hot lemon water in the morning before breakfast can speed up the weight loss process, enabling you to burn calories, replenish the water lost while you slept and remove unwanted chemicals in your body. If you are going to perform physical exercise, drink one extra pint of hot water a day.

Appetite

Drinking two 8-oz. glasses of water before meals, while also cutting back on portions, may help you lose weight and keep it off for at least a year, according to a study by the American Chemical Society in Boston. This is because drinking water fills your stomach, decreasing your appetite and slowing your metabolism.

Retaining Water

When your body doesn't receive enough water it will retain all of the water it gets. This often appears as weight gain and causes swelling in your legs, hands and feet. You may also experience a lack of thirst. You must drink water to rid yourself of this excess water. When your body gets an adequate amount of water, the stored water is released.

Hydration

Your body is 60 percent water, and it needs water to stay hydrated. Weight loss is largely due to water loss, so to avoid dehydration you need to drink an adequate amount of water. Since thirst is an indicator of dehydration, drink enough water so that you rarely feel thirsty.