Water is essential to all life. That fact alone is a very good reason to talk about it. Now, the important question is: Does drinking more water really speed up weight loss? And what kind of water is safe to drink?
Will Drinking More Water Make Me Burn More Fat?
Many experts recommend drinking at least eight 8 oz. glasses of water per day, or even half your bodyweight (in pounds) in ounces of water. Does this recommendation make any sense? Yes and no. Drinking this amount of water if you’re not thirsty won’t hydrate you more – and may actually be too much for some people.But research does show that your body uses 24% more calories for 60 minutes after drinking water.
The researchers figured that this is because your body has to expend energy to bring your hydration in balance. Be warned though – this doesn’t mean that drinking 100 liters of water would make you lose 100X more fat. Drinking too much water (read: chugging liters of water in a short amount of time) can lead to intoxication, and eventually death. That being said, drinking water instead of the average 400 calories per day most Americans drink will help you lose weight; there’s no doubt about it. Try drinking water (500 ml or about 16 oz.) before three meals every day. This technique has been proven to be very effective for portion control.
When Should I Drink Water?
If you don’t feel like drinking water before your meals in order to eat less, you don’t have to carry a gallon of water around all day long. There is no universal requirement for water intake, and exact needs will vary from person to person depending on a ton of factors. Thirst is a good indicator that you need to drink water, and
does not actually mean you’re already dehydrated. You actually get thirsty when your blood’s water concentration has risen by 2%, while experts generally define dehydration when that concentration has risen by at least 5%.72.
My simple advice is this – drink when you’re thirsty, and stick with water as much as possible. Also – if you have a hard time digesting meals – avoid drinking water from 15 minutes before a meal to 15 minutes after that meal. That way, you won’t dilute your stomach acids that help break down food.
Is Your Tap Water Clean?
This part sure is scary; but my goal here is not to scare you. The fact is that our tap water is more and more contaminated as the years go by, and for a lot of reasons…Irresponsible sewage spilling into waterways is so common it’s not even funny. In the last years, more than 9,400 of the 25,000 US sewage systems have violated the law by dumping untreated or partially treated human waste, chemicals and other hazardous materials into rivers, lakes and other waterways. Pair that poor agricultural practices and global pollution – and it’s easy to see why virtually 100% sources of tap water are contaminated to some degree by these chemicals:
BPA – an organic compound that’s linked to breast cancer, obesity and other disorders – and that’s now detectable at important levels in the urine of an estimated 93% of Americans.
Atrazine – the number one contaminant of ground water that’s believed to have carcinogenic properties – and that has been banned by the European Union in 2003, but approved in the US the same year.
PCE – a solvent that contaminates soil and drinking water at hundreds of locations across the country – which increases breast cancer risks.
TCE– the most frequently detected organic solvent in groundwater found in at least 34% of the nation’s drinking water supplies – linked to kidney and liver cancer, lymphoma and other health problems.
Nitrogen fertilizers – found in 100-fold higher levels in rural areas – increasing risks of cancer.
Pharmaceuticals – which have become a significant water pollutant nationwide – including antidepressants, medications for high blood pressure and diabetes, anticonvulsants, steroid medications, oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy medications, codeine, pain relievers, chemotherapy drugs, heart medications, and antibiotics.
The worst is that there are no established limits on the amounts of pharmaceuticals in drinking water and that no water testing is made to determine the amounts present. The main problem with our water is that public water filtration and treatment plants remove some contaminants, but that current technologies can't remove them all. That’s why the EPA reported that drinking water utilities will need an estimated $277 billion in upgrades before the year 2022. A second problem is that the EPA standards owners and operators of public water systems need to comply with are simply not enough. An analysis of more than two million drinking water test results acquired from 42 state water offices found 260 contaminants in tap water. Of these, 141 contaminants have no safety standards. Forty of the unregulated contaminants were detected in tap water consumed by at least one million people.
Clean Your Water
The only way to get rid of 99% of these contaminants is by installing a filter. I highly recommend you invest in either a reverse osmosis system or a ion-exchange water filter. These kinds of filters will get rid of most of the contaminants, while pitcher style filters are mainly used to get rid of odor or taste. Here’s the only brand I’ll ever recommend: http://www.aquasana.com
Installing a shower head filtration system might be a good idea too. Turns out that inhaling a lot of water contaminants during showers and baths may be much more harmful than swallowing them, since they enter directly into your blood stream.
Is Bottled Water Any Better?
You might be surprised to hear this, but 40% of all bottled water is actually tap water. And it turns out that it’s far from being as “pure” as most manufacturers claim it is. An independent test performed by the Environmental Working Group revealed 38 low-level contaminants in bottled water, with each of the 10 tested brands containing an average of eight chemicals including disinfection byproducts (DBPs), caffeine, Tylenol, nitrate, industrial chemicals, arsenic, and bacteria.
In addition to these contaminants, plastics such as BPA can leach from the bottle itself into the water it contains.Also, German researchers have found that the longer a bottle of water sits on a store shelf or in a household pantry, the higher the dose of a potentially toxic trace element called “antimony” it contains.
Antimony concentrations reached more than 100X the average level in quality groundwaters, and the concentration was 19-90% higher after the bottles were left to sit at room temperature for six months. The bottom line – your expensive bottled water is probably not any better than tap water, and is certainly a big waste of money.
Is Distilled Water Any Better?
Distilled water may be tempting to avoid all those contaminants – and because it’s still recommended by a lot of health “gurus” out there. In my opinion – even if it is a probably detoxifier – distilled water has no advantage over tap water that has been filtered properly. Long-term use of distilled water acidifies your body and is known to cause mineral deficiencies. Cola beverages and other soft drinks are made from distilled water, and studies have consistently shown that heavy consumers of soft drinks (with or without sugar) spill huge amounts of calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals into the urine.The more mineral loss, the greater the risk for osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, hypothyroidism, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and a long list of degenerative diseases generally associated with premature aging.
Summary--> Drinking half your bodyweight in oz. of water is NOT mandatory, but it can support your weight loss.
--> Drinking 16 oz. of water before each meal can help you portion control.
--> Don't get too caught up with the recommendation to drink more water; drinking when you're thirsty is enough.
--> Our tap water is filled with contaminants. Investing in a quality filter is a very smart idea.
--> If you're not sure if your water is safe, request a report that shows the quality of your local water (usually free).
--> Bottled water or even distilled water are not good alternatives to tap water.
