Water and Weight Loss: Connecting the Drops
Spring is here, and just like the flowers in your garden need water to grow, so too do you need water to stay hydrated and perform your best in the warmer weather months ahead. One way hydration can help you perform your best is at the gym as you try to shed the last bit of weight leftover from holidays come and gone.
Water and Weight Loss: The Basics
You’ve heard most of this through the gym grapevine: staying hydrated helps your sport performance, keeps your muscles from cramping up, etc. But what’s true, and how does this all work?
Water and Metabolism
This is one of the most espoused health + wellness tidbits you’ll find: proper hydration improves your metabolism in and out of the gym. It turns out, there’s some truth to this factoid! In a study of 14 healthy, normal weight men and women, drinking 500 mL of water increased metabolic rate by 30%.* This metabolic increase showed up in results within 10 min and hit max productivity after 30-40 min. Knowing this, it’s key to not only drink water before and after your workout, but also during your workout to ensure your body is performing at its best!
Water, Diet, and Exercise
So what’s the real story, and how does water consumption affect weight loss when paired with diet and exercise, and not just in relation to metabolic rate analysis? In a study of 48 older adults aged 55 to 75 years, increased water intake (by 500mL) paired with an exercise and diet program was monitored over 12 weeks to assess if water intake played any role in weight loss success. At the end of 12 weeks, the group with the increased water intake lost about 2 kg more than non–water drinkers.* This means while it might not be a major factor, there is at least some positive impact from a 500mL increase to water intake on weight loss.
Ways to Add Water to Your Life
It can be as simple as a reusable water bottle purchase or a long-term investment like a water dispenser for your home, but there are plenty of ways to add water to your life. Ensuring you have a reusable bottle or two stashed in your car, gym bag, or your home workout area are easy enough, just remember to wash them!
Another way to keep hydration handy in your busy life is with a home water dispenser or a portable dispenser attachment for a 5-gallon bottle you keep in your car. This way, you’ve got great, non-tap water to keep you hydrated without the toxins in tap from your kitchen sink.
If you’re looking for ways to track your water intake and boost your hydration to perform at your best, download our water tracker!
Sources:
* Water-induced thermogenesis. Michael Boschmann, Jochen Steiniger, Uta Hille, Jens Tank, Frauke Adams, Arya M. Sharma, Susanne Klaus, Friedrich C. Luft, Jens Jordan. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Dec; 88(12): 6015–6019. doi: 10.1210/jc.2003-030780
**What Impact Does Water Consumption Have on Weight Loss or Weight Loss Maintenance? Cunningham, Eleese. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Volume 114, Issue 12, 2084