Why Does Drinking Water Help You Lose Weight?

Your body’s six essential macronutrients — the nutrients it requires but can’t produce — are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. Approximately 60 percent of your weight is water, which, for the average person, amounts to about 10 gallons. It's a main component of your blood. It absorbs and transports heat from your core to the surface of your skin. Every cell of your body is constantly immersed in a watery fluid, and your metabolic, digestive and waste processes couldn’t function without it. If it's your beverage of choice, water can also help you lose weight.

Before Meals

In a 2010 clinical trial authored by Virginia Tech associate professor Brenda Davy, Ph.D., overweight dieters who drank 16 oz. of water before a meal ate 75 to 90 fewer calories at that meal. Over the course of the 12-week trial, those who drank water prior to breakfast, lunch and dinner, lost an average of 5 lbs. more than the dieters who didn’t. Davy suggested that the water made the dieters feel fuller, compelling them to eat less before becoming satiated. Throughout the years, many have suggested that drinking water before eating can help you consume less, but Davy’s randomized, controlled clinical trial was the first to demonstrate it.

With Fiber

Consuming a diet rich in produce and whole grains is one way to boost your weight loss efforts. Not only do fruits and vegetables contain a high amount of water, along with whole grains, they’re also a good source of dietary fiber. A high-fiber diet can help you lose weight because most fibrous foods are less energy dense, meaning a plate full of high-fiber foods contains fewer calories than the same plate full of low- or no-fiber foods. For a high-fiber diet to work well, you must drink enough water. Fiber absorbs water in your body, helping you feel fuller longer and aiding in digestion and elimination.

Beverage Replacement

Replacing high-calories beverages with water is a simple way to boost your weight-loss efforts. One 12 oz. can of non-diet cola contains approximately 10 tsp. of sugar, or 160 calories. If you drink two or three cans of regular soda each day, you’re consuming an additional 9,600 to 14,400 calories per month. Eliminating those calories by replacing cola with water can result in an average weight loss of three to four pounds per month, without any additional effort. The same premise holds if your drink of choice is a flavored latte or other high-calorie beverage, including juice. You can still get your vitamin C; just eat an orange and opt for water when you're thirsty.

Considerations

Proper hydration keeps all of your body’s systems, including your metabolism, functioning correctly. While you may have heard that you should drink six to eight 8-oz. glasses of water per day, your individual hydration needs depend on the temperature outside, your age, gender, diet, health, level of activity and any medications you're taking. In general, you’re hydrated if your urine is pale yellow or clear. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink water, as thirst is an indication of dehydration. In addition, your body can’t always discern between hunger and thirst, so if you’re hungry before you think you should be, try drinking a glass of water instead of eating.