Lose Weight
With Water From the “Susan Says” column
in Sydney’s Inner West Courier
by Susan Garrad
Thursday 20 May 2010Is it true that water can help you lose weight?
Amazingly, yes!
Water really is a magic potion in weight loss. It also reduces fluid retention, flushes toxins from our bodies and gives us energy. And it’s free!
Water naturally suppresses the appetite and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that not drinking enough water causes an increase in fat deposits, while drinking more water can actually reduce fat deposits.
The overweight person needs more water than the thin one. Larger people have larger metabolic loads. Since we know that water is the key to fat metabolism, it follows that the overweight person needs more water.
Drinking enough water is the best treatment for fluid retention. When the body gets less water, it perceives this as a threat to survival and begins to hold on to every drop. Water is stored in extracellular spaces (outside the cells). This shows up as swollen feet, legs and hands.
Water helps to maintain proper muscle tone by giving muscles their natural ability to contract and by preventing dehydration. It also helps to prevent the sagging skin that usually follows weight loss. Shrinking cells are buoyed by water, which plumps the skin and leaves it clear, healthy, and resilient.
Water helps rid the body of waste. During weight loss, the body has a lot more waste to get rid of – all the metabolized fat must be shed. Again, adequate water helps flush out the waste.
Water can help relieve constipation. When the body gets too little water, it siphons what it needs from internal sources. The colon is one primary source. Result? Constipation. But when a person drinks enough water, normal bowel function usually returns.
So, get yourself a 2-litre water bottle and take it with you everywhere throughout the day and watch the kilos disappear.
Susan Garrad holds a bachelor of naturopathy from Australia’s Southern Cross University and studied in the USA at Bastyr University. She specializes in women’s and children’s health and has a practice at Summer Hill in Sydney.