If there was a secret product that helped you lose weight with little to no effort on your part, stay healthy, didn’t require more exercise or dieting, and is free and abundant, would you want to take it?

So why don’t you?

Water is essential to sustain life on earth, so it’s no wonder that it’s the most crucial substance to incorporate into your diet to sustain your quality of life. It doesn’t matter if your goal is to lose weight, gain weight, or to stay healthy, water is necessary to achieve anything and everything. Simply put, there is no denying the health benefits of water.

Hold up, How much water?

The human body contains more than 60% water. Your blood is 92% water; brain and muscle are 75% water; and bones are roughly 22% water. Average human beings can go about a month without eating, but only about a week without drinking water before they die. After only a few days without water, mass confusion, hallucinations, and deliria will start to set, in addition to rapidly decreasing motor functions. It’s simple, water is life.


The functions of water in the body

Every process in the human body is carried out in a medium of water. Water is a universal solvent that carries nutrients, minerals, vitamins, protein, hormones, enzymes, and other chemicals through the bloodstream, to their destinations. When an individual is dehydrated, all of these processes slow down. Water regulates body temperature, provides lubrication for your joints and eyeballs, creates saliva and digestive fluid, and maintains equilibrium.

Your kidney’s main function is to remove waste by dissolving it in water. When you are dehydrated, your liver has to take over for the kidneys. Your liver produces cholesterol and special proteins that help carry fats through the body. When your liver is acting as a backup for your kidneys, fats don’t pass through the body efficiently, leading to increased storage.

Everyone knows that they should drink plenty of water, but in reality people are in a constant state of dehydration and don’t even know it! They have no clue that they are missing out on the major health benefits of water.


Three main reasons why people are dehydrated are:

  1. They simply don’t drink enough water
  2. They eat more processed foods and less vegetables and fruits, which are water dense
  3. Consumption of caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine (soda, tea, coffee) and alcohol are diuretics. For some, these products are the only liquids that are being consumed, leading to chronic dehydration.

Chronic dehydration is the most common cause of a lot of health ailments. Think of your body as an engine, the fuel is calories consumed, and the exhaust pipe is water. The breakdown of calories creates toxins that require water to flush them out. If they aren’t flushed out efficiently, they start to build up causing more problems which leads to even more problems.

Fiber is meant to aid in digestion, but without adequate water, you will get constipated. Water is a natural remedy and is one of the best cures for these common ailments including: diabetes, migraines, asthma, neck and back pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, high blood pressure, allergies, depression, alcohol dependence, colitis, and much more.


Direct health benefits of water include:

  1. increased strength
  2. prolonged cardiovascular performance
  3. suppressed appetite
  4. reduction of sodium buildup
  5. maintenance of muscle tone by assisting muscle contractions
  6. keeps skin soft
  7. reduced muscle soreness
  8. keeps your metabolism running efficiently.

Dr. Brenda Davy, Associate Professor of human nutrition, foods and exercise at Virginia Tech, published in the Journal of American Dietetic Association, that subjects who drank water before meals ate an average of 75 calories less that those who didn’t. That doesn’t sound like much, but that would be equivalent to losing an additional 7 ½ lbs a year!

Drink more water to be less bloated

People tend to worry that if they drink too much water their bodies will hold on to excess water. The truth is, when you are dehydrated, your body holds on to water, the same as when you under eat, your body retains fat. Don’t worry, either, about drinking too much water; it takes extreme effort to drink too much water, which can lead to water intoxication (dilution of the electrolytes sodium and potassium). You would have to be OCD with water or participate in extended athletic activity, which is why athletes drink products like Gatorade.


how much water is adequate?

You hear the 8 glasses a day speech, but there is no evidence that backs that up. How much depends on your weight, activity level, environment, and your diet. If you are thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. Try to carry around a water bottle and distribute water intake throughout the day. If you are an athlete, plan ahead to make sure water is available. Eat more fruits, vegetables, and soups; they are water dense and less calorie dense which will reduce calorie consumption, without reducing the portion size.

There you have it; water is the “secret product” that will help achieve diet success and boost health. Go out and drink some water, on me. Oh wait, its FREE!