Saunas and sauna suits are a dangerous yet popular way people try to lose weight fast. This process serves to dehydrate the body and purge water weight. Unfortunately, minimizing your body's water content serves no long-term benefits and can put you in harm's way. Increasing fluid intake, on the other hand, can be very beneficial when utilized to suppress your appetite and improve your body's functioning.
Improved Body Function
Water is used by the body for a number of routine processes. Drinking water can help improve bodily function in several ways, including helping with digestion. The body also uses water as a means of flushing out unwanted molecules, toxins and other compounds -- water can deliver these byproducts to the kidneys or liver, or it can carry them out of the body through urine. Consistently drinking water ensures that your body is able to unload waste materials as needed. Water is also necessary to avoid constipation and improve bowel function.
Appetite Suppression
Water's greatest benefit to weight-loss efforts is as an appetite suppressor. The body has trouble telling the difference between thirst and hunger. As a result, drinking water when you are hungry can help trick the mind into thinking your hunger needs have been met. Another way to use water beneficially is to drink a glass prior to eating a meal. A study conducted by the American Dietetic Association found that individuals tend to eat an average of 75 fewer calories during a meal when they have consumed water beforehand.
Warnings
Drinking too many fluids in a day can have several serious effects on the body. Over a long period of time, drinking only fluids can lead to deficiencies of certain nutrients that are not provided through a fluids-only diet. You might be slowly starving yourself if you are consuming too few calories in a day -- typically less than 1,000. In addition, excessive water consumption can induce hyponatremia, a condition caused by low blood sodium levels that can lead to confusion, irritability, seizures and even coma.
Considerations
If you are unsure of the appropriate proportions with which you should drink fluids in a day, talk to a doctor or nutritionist. It is unwise to replace multiple meals in a days only with fluids, as this restrictive diet can reduce your overall health in addition to the aforementioned risks. Fluids-only diets are sometimes marketed as effective diet plans, but these do not help you lose weight over a long period of time and should be avoided -- not only will you gain the weight back after the end of the crash diet, but you will also have affected your body's health, nutrition and energy.
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