People often say that one of the things you should do every day if you’re trying to lose weight is drink lots of water, but some advice on the internet suggests drinking as much as a gallon of water. Some suggest that you should. The claim is that water burns calories and suppresses appetite, resulting in weight loss.
But while we might all wish we could lose weight this easily, unfortunately there is little evidence to support these claims.
Myth 1: Water helps burn calories
One small studyamong 14 young people, found that drinking 500ml of water increased resting energy expenditure (the calories your body burns before exercise) by about 24%.
This may sound great, but the effect only lasted for an hour. And this won’t make much of a difference. For an adult with an average weight of 70 kg, for every 500 ml of water he drinks, he additionally consumes only 20 calories (a quarter of a biscuit).
another study Of the eight young people, they reported an increase in energy expenditure only when the water was cold in the refrigerator, with only a 4% increase in calories burned. This is because the body has to use more energy to bring water up to body temperature, or because the body needs more energy to filter the increased volume of fluid through the kidneys. There is a possibility. Again, this effect was only seen for about an hour.
So while it may be scientifically possible, the actual net increase in calories burned is small. For example, even if he drinks an extra 1.5 liters of water per day, the calories saved will be less than the calories taken in from a piece of bread.
It’s also worth noting that all of this research involved young, healthy adults. Further research is needed to see if this effect is also observed in other groups (e.g., middle-aged and older adults).
Myth 2: Drinking water with meals will reduce your appetite.
This argument also seems to make sense in that when the stomach is at least partially filled with water, there is less room for food and, as a result, we eat less.
Many studies actually support this, especially middle-aged and elderly. This is why it is recommended for people who are not feeling well or have no appetite. don’t drink before meals Because it can lead to overeating.
But for those trying to lose weight, the science is a little less simple.
a study Researchers showed that middle-aged and older adults who drank water before meals lost 2 kg of weight over 12 weeks compared to those who did not drink water with meals. Younger participants (21 to 35 years old), on the other hand, did not lose weight regardless of whether they drank water before meals.
However, the study was not blinded (information that could affect participants is withheld until the end of the experiment), so participants were not sure why they were drinking water before meals. This means that you may have noticed it. Because of this, some participants may have intentionally changed the amount they ate in hopes of seeing more changes in weight loss. However, this does not explain why this effect was not seen in young people, so it will be important for future research to investigate why.
Another challenge with many of these studies is that they only focus on whether participants eat less at just one meal of the day after drinking water. Although this may suggest the possibility of losing weight, little high-quality evidence This generally indicates that a decrease in appetite leads to weight loss over time.
Perhaps this is due to our body’s biological impulses. maintain size. For this reason, in Europe, we cannot legally make claims about foods that help us stay healthy. Feeling full for a long time and References to weight loss.
So while water may have some appetite-suppressing effects, it doesn’t seem to result in long-term weight changes, perhaps due to conscious changes in diet. .
water alone is not enough
There’s a good reason why water alone isn’t as effective. regulation of appetite. If that were the case, prehistoric humans might have starved.
However, appetite and satiety, or the feeling of being full and not wanting to eat anymore, are not completely consistent with being able to eat. lose weightmay serve as a starting point.
It is the stomach that helps us feel full. When food enters your stomach, stretch receptors are stimulated, causing the release of hormones that signal you’re full.
However, since water is a liquid, it is quickly excreted from the stomach. That means you won’t actually be full. Even more interestingly, belly shape, the liquid is able to bypass the semi-solid food contents that are being digested in the lower part of the stomach. This means that water can be expelled from the stomach quickly. So even if you take it at the end of a meal, it won’t necessarily make you feel fuller longer.
If you’re trying to lose weight by eating less, drinking too much water may not be a good solution. However, water may be mixed with other substances (e.g. fiber, soup or vegetable sauces) This slows down the rate at which the contents of the stomach empty, making you feel fuller longer.
But while water may not directly help with weight loss, it can still help with weight loss considering water is the healthiest drink we can choose. Replacing high-calorie drinks such as soda and alcohol with water is an easy way to reduce your daily calorie intake and may help you lose weight.
Duane MellorAston Medical School, a leader in evidence-based medicine and nutrition, aston university
This article is republished from conversation Under Creative Commons License.read Original work.
