By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

November 13, 2020

Every night before I go to bed, I fill a gallon container with water from the sink. Then, I use my distiller and let it run overnight.

A few liquid mineral drops in the morning… and voila… delicious, pure water!

Now, you probably know that water is good for you.  But I wonder if you know another amazing property of the good ol’ H2O… it can actually help you lose weight!

To understand why this works, first I want you to think about the way water works in your body.  It helps your metabolism keep chugging along as it should.

That’s because water is essential for your cells to function; dryer cells are dysfunctional. Water transports nutrients to the cells and helps remove wastes.  It also helps maintain your blood volume so your circulatory system works as it should.  This is important for all of your organs and tissues to keep you alive.

In short, water is vital for every system in your body – cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, reproductive, kidney and liver, brain and nervous system.  They ALL need water to function correctly.[1]

The Secret Weight Loss Properties of Water

When you decide it’s time to drop a few pounds, I’ll bet drinking plain old water wasn’t at the top of your list.  You probably thought first about your daily meals and your amount of daily physical movement.

Well, just the simple act of drinking water can help you fill up a little bit.  Some people find that if they have a glass of water when they’re feeling hungry, they don’t eat as much.

One 12-week study looked at how drinking 500 ml of water prior to a meal would affect weight loss when combined with a low calorie diet.  Weight loss was 2 kg greater in the water group than in those who didn’t drink the water. The study concluded that drinking water before a meal would help reduce the amount of food you ate.[2]

Water also keeps your body’s metabolism running at full speed. This actually helps your body burn more fat.

A study of 173 overweight dieting women looked at fat loss over the period of one year.  Women were asked to drink at least one liter of water per day and experienced an average of 5 lbs of weight loss. [3]

So, just the simple act of drinking water before your meal or throughout the day will help you eat fewer calories and keep your body’s metabolism ticking along as it should.

There’s one more interesting point about drinking water for weight loss that I think you should know.  Temperature matters!

If your daily water is nice and cold, your body will have to burn calories just to bring it up to your body’s temperature of 98.6 degrees.

A study found that overweight children who drank cold water increased their “resting energy expenditure” for 40 minutes afterwards.  This would lead to an additional weight loss of 1.2 kg per year.[4]

So, yes.  Water can help you lose weight!

How to Avoid “Dead Water”

If you’re ready to start adding more water to your daily routine, there are a few things to know…

First off, I really like using my distiller to get great tasting water.  The only thing that would be better would be water from the top of the mountain with fresh glacier melt-off.

But, as water runs downhill, it picks up toxins along the way.  Our public water is also filled with chemicals like chlorine and fluoride.

That’s why I enjoy using my distiller. Just remember one important thing.  Distilled water is like “dead water.”  It doesn’t have any of the trace minerals and nutrients that you’d find in natural water.

For that reason, I like to get out my blue trace mineral bottle and put in 20 to 30 drops into the gallon container.  Now, you have pure water that has the critical micro trace minerals back into it.

Next, you need to make sure you’re drinking enough water…

Drinking too little water causes dehydration, which is especially bad for older adults. We naturally have a lower volume of water in our bodies.  The medications we take can also put us at risk for dehydration.

Remember, many people don’t feel thirsty until they are already dehydrated.  You might experience extreme thirst, less frequent urination, dark-colored urine, fatigue, dizziness and confusion.[5]

The urine check is the easiest way to see if you’re getting enough water.  If your urine is light yellow to clear, then you’re okay.  If it’s darker yellow, then you need to drink more.

A good rule of thumb is to drink at least one ounce of water to equal half of your body weight in pounds.  So a person who is 150 pounds, should drink at least 75 ounces (or a cup more than 2 liters) of water a day.

If you drink enough water, make it nice and cold, and use it as a way to eat less, then you’ll be all set.  Water may be the secret weapon to help you reach your weight loss goals.

So the analogy is, raisins are just dried out grapes – which do you want to be?

Sources:

[1] Jyoti, Rani, Sharma Uttam Kumar, and D. N. Sharma. “Role of adequate water intake in purification of body.” Environment Conservation Journal 19.1&2 (2018): 183-186.

[2] Dennis, Elizabeth A., et al. “Water consumption increases weight loss during a hypocaloric diet intervention in middle‐aged and older adults.” Obesity 18.2 (2010): 300-307.

[3] Stookey, Jodi D., et al. “Drinking water is associated with weight loss in overweight dieting women independent of diet and activity.” Obesity 16.11 (2008): 2481-2488.

[4] Dubnov-Raz, G., et al. “Influence of water drinking on resting energy expenditure in overweight children.” International journal of obesity 35.10 (2011): 1295-1300.

[5] Dehydration. Mayo Clinic. Accessed: 31Oct2020. Available Online: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dehydration/symptoms-causes/syc-20354086