Will Drinking Cold Water Make Me Lose Weight?

Drinking cold water may stimulate your metabolism, which can boost or increase weight loss. Technically, in scientific jargon, one calorie equals the energy required to heat 1L of water by 1 degree. One true calorie contains 1,000 kilocalories, the units normally called "calories" in weight-loss discussions. To process the water you drink, your digestive system must warm it up to reach the same temperature as your body; in doing so, your body burns a few of those calories.

Cold Water and Weight Loss

Cold water contains no calories, but your body burns calories by processing it; this results in a caloric deficit, which can lead to losing weight. Additionally, explains a study conducted by Michael Boschmann and colleagues and published in the "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism" in 2007, drinking cold water can boost your overall metabolism by almost 30 percent. This helps your body process other foods and drinks more efficiently, which can also aid weight loss.

Cold Water v. Room-Temperature Water

Drinking room-temperature water offers the same benefits as drinking cold water, albeit on a smaller scale. If you drink cold water -- about 72 degrees -- between 33 and 40 percent of the calories you burn result from warming the cold water. The other 67 to 60 percent of calorie burn simply comes from processing the liquid.

Amounts

Boschmann and colleagues in a 2003 article in the "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism" recommend drinking 2L of cold water per day. Your metabolism gains its highest boost about half an hour after you drink the cold water; hence, you should drink the 2L in smaller increments throughout the day to keep your metabolism running strong all day. One serving should contain 500 ml or about two measuring cups.

If you do this, you will burn around 95 calories per day. You need to burn off 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound of weight.

Other Factors

If you eat more calories than you burn each day, simply drinking cold water will not cause weight loss. Instead, your body can use the extra calories for the energy it needs to process the cold water, and even if your metabolism runs faster, it still cannot burn all the calories you eat.

If the number of calories you consume equals the number of calories you burn, or if you eat fewer calories than your body uses, drinking cold water can help you lose weight or lose more weight.

Expert Disagreements

Although a few studies have affirmed the benefit drinking cold water, other studies have found only minute effects. C.M. Brown and others in a 2006 study published in the "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism" found that drinking cold water only increases the metabolism by 4.5 percent, and that boost only lasts for an hour.

Drink sufficient water every day. Your body and metabolism need water to function at all, and dehydration will slow your metabolism and cause other health problems.