by Bhavya Dabas

Created on: December 17, 2009

Water is essential for sustaining life and for keeping our body functioning well. It’s essential for all our body’s internal processes, since it is the medium used to carry nutrients and waste from one part of the body to another.

You need water for your body’s metabolism to work properly. You need it in order to burn fat. Plus, burning fat releases toxins which must be disposed off by the body. Water is essential for that too.

The liver burns the fat stored in our bodies. It also transports waste to the kidneys so that they can process it. The kidneys need lots of water to work properly. If they don’t get enough of it, the liver has to do some of their waste processing work for them. That leads it to become less efficient at burning fat.

One major pitfall that dieters often encounter is mistaking thirst for hunger. We eat when all we actually need to do is to drink water. Drinking eight to ten glasses of water a day (about two to three quarts) is generally advisable. Stick to the higher end of that range if you are trying to lose weight. Some experts also suggest drinking one ounce of water for every two pounds of body weight. So if you weigh 160 pounds, you need 80 ounces or ten glasses of water every day.

Drinking water also helps you feel full, and leads you to eat smaller portions of food. It may also lead to a noticeably reduced appetite. Drink water at various times during the day. Do not be guided by thirst alone. You feel thirsty when your body is beginning to get dehydrated. Drink a big, full glass of water every hour and a half or so. Cold water is more easily absorbed by the body, so drink it as cold as you can comfortably drink.

Swapping calorific drinks and wine in favor of water, whenever possible, helps cut down your calorie intake and keeps your metabolism perked up. When you increase your water intake, you may, in the first few days, notice that you need to go to the bathroom a lot more frequently, but that is normal. Once you settle in and give your body enough water on a regular basis, this will stop.

And of course, drinking lots of water has other benefits as well. It keeps your skin healthy by flushing out toxins and reducing wrinkles and sagginess. It keeps your kidneys healthy and reduces the possibility of kidney stones. It keeps your digestive system happy too.

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