Some say that drinking 8 glasses of water a day is sufficient to provide you with excellent health, while some bodybuilders are reputed to drink over a gallon and a half, but they sweat a lot. Out of all the available information on the internet regarding how much water you should drink there is mention of your dependence on the climate.
The Climate Factor
If a person on a snow covered street in Alaska was asked how much water do you drink a day, they might reply, ‘Well, not a lot'. While someone in Northern Chile, up near the Atacama Desert might say they would drink a gallon or more because the intense heat will make them sweat 2-3 pints every hour. If they are working they could be losing 1 pint of sweat every 15 minutes. That loss of body water has to be replaced quick or the result could be death.
If you weight around 120lb, according to a water calculator online, you should be drinking about 5 glasses a day in a cool climate, but if you moved to a hotter climate that should increases to 7 glasses a day. It appears to me that although the question of the amount of water to drink to lose weight seems to be debatable, there is no real answer because it's really the wrong question.
Water as a Diet Aid
A more relevant question would be, ‘how much water should I drink with every meal, and between meals to try to satisfy my diet hunger?' In that case the answer would be until you feel full. Nevertheless, it might be the solution to your hunger pangs if you don't mind the many visits to the ‘little room' or getting up three times in the night. The adjustment is down to you by trial and error.
No Kool-Aid?
There is another question, and that is ‘Does your body's essential assimilation of liquids include the consumption of tea, cola, Kool-Aid etc., or does it have to been plain old H²O?' I argue that it's all these are liquids made with a majority of water, but the gurus say – just water.
It all boils down to (no pun intended) that adequate hydration is a compulsory feature of our lives and there is no changing it. There is no substitute for a healthy lifestyle with a sensible diet and sensible water intake. No reason exists to bloat yourself out with water in the belief it will help you lose weight.
Some Scary News
Persistence in over-drinking water can instigate a condition known as hyponatremia, which is basically having sodium washed out of your body to the point of a serious deficiency – expanded blood plasma and diluted blood salt. This results in disruption of the heart, muscle and brain functions.
The question of 'How much water can I drink to lose weight?', still remains, but we can finalize this discussion by saying, ‘try it, but don't overdo it'. My earlier rhetoric regarding night comfort, and indeed being caught several times while shopping, should be enough to make you think twice about excessive water consumption, without the horror story at the end.