Yes, we know. Shedding kilos can be a tough process. And yet.. what if there was a simple habit that makes it easier?
It's just too simple. Cut out sharing your dinner table with shakes and juices,! Opt for plain water. Yes, you heard, WATER.
1,200+ elementary and middle school students in New York City shed unwanted pounds over a five-year pilot program. Water dispensers in the cafeterias tripled water intake during lunchtime, and helped the students lose small but significant amounts of weight.
University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Ruopeng An, who conducted of the program said:
“The nutrition profile doesn’t change much when people increase their plain-water intake, but we do see a significant drop in their saturated fat and sugar intake,” Though the children consumed less milk, An stated that this wouldn’t pose any major nutritional hazards.
“While there might potentially be some problems if children consume less whole milk, I would say those are probably minor in comparison with the costs associated with the skyrocketing rates of childhood overweight and obesity in the U.S.,”
Far from only helping kids, only drinking water with your meals is good for adults too. Professor An has performed a previous study on the effects of greater water intake among adults, and he found that there was little to no evidence of adverse nutritional side effects. After all, it's water, right? (UltraStream water, I would hope!)
Weight loss and Water : The connection
It’s not really surprising that the students under the program lost weight. Water has often been proven to aid in weight loss efforts in a number of ways, and according to Healthline.com, these are some of them:
- Water can assist in burning calories
Specifically, water can help you burn more calories through resting energy expenditure, or the rate at which you use up calories when resting.
Adult water drinkers can boost their resting energy expenditure by as much as 30 percent, and these effects can last at least 60 minutes.
For children, their resting energy expenditure can go up by 25 percent after drinking cold water.
Cold water can actually do a better job of calorie-burning than warm water. This is because cold water encourages your body to use up extra calories to warm the water to the ideal body temperature. - Water can reduce appetite — (For older and middle-aged adults at least).
Researchers in one 2008 study discovered that drinking water before eating breakfast helped obese and overweight adults reduce their caloric consumption during the meal by about 13 percent. This effect has not been observed in younger persons, but this just means that water can be utilized as an efficient weight loss measure for when you enter your older years. - Water can decrease caloric intake — Water is free of calories. When you swap soda or juice for water, you don’t add any calories to your meal.
One other thing to consider: the average person will gain about 3.2 lbs (0.13 kg) every four years. One additional one cup of water a day can reduce this weight gain 0.23 lbs (or 0.13 kg), while substituting a single serving of sugar-sweetened beverages with water can lower this four-year weight gain by 1.1 lbs (0.5 kg).
Make it a point follow the recommended intake of four to eight glasses, or one to two litres, of water a day.
Yes, it's a general guideline. You may need more water than other people, or you could be one of those people who can do with a little less. Just ensure you drink water whenever you feel thirsty, as ignoring this urge can cause you to become dehydrated. Even mild dehydration can cause you to reach for food or experience a headache, neither of which are good for you. The same can’t be said of water, which is definitely something you should have everyday.
And of course, it needs to be said.. make sure your water is pure water. Many cities in the US and Australia deliver lead with the drinking water, while other have new high levels of nitrates, PFOAs, heavy metals, fluoride, chloramines... so here's one simple system that will ensure pure water every day in your home.