by Daniel Fishman

Created on: March 28, 2006   Last Updated: July 18, 2009

One of the things that's happened to us in our modern lifestyles is we don't eat anywhere near the amount of fruits and vegetables that our ancestors did. Those fruits and vegetables contained very few calories and alot of water - which helped satisfy out body's thirst. Today with more processed foods, and the abundance of diuretics (drinks that make you lose more water than you take in, like soda, coffee and tea), our bodies need more water, but our thirst receptors are poor, and we often mistake being thirsty for being hungry. Drink more water during the day, and especially try to drink some water when you feel like a snack. You might just be thirsty!

One additional benefit you can gain is by drinking cold water. Your body has to work to generate the heat to bring the water to a temperature where it can be used. Even though it may not seem like much, look at the math. Everyone knows it takes one calorie to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. So, with 27 grams in an ounce, if you drink a 24 ounce bottle of water at say 5 degrees celsius, and your body has to heat it up to 37 degress celsius (98.6 F). 27x24=648 grams of water. 648 grams x 32 degrees = 20736 calories required.

Unfortunately those it takes 1000 of those calories to equal 1 "food" Calorie. But that means drinking a 24 oz bottle of water will burn 20 calories. Do that 5 times a day, and in addition to satisfying your thirst, and making you less hungry, you'll burn 100 calories!

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