Weight Loss And Water Therapy

Here's A Simple And Effective Method To Shed Your Fat

Summary:
That Americans are, uh, slightly on the weighty side is not news. A huge, multi-billion dollar industry has been created in the span of two decades around the medical condition of obesity. There are now a plethora of medicines, therapies and drugs available in the market, each one claiming superior results over the other. This article takes a look at how simple, "plain water therapy" fares among the more sophisticated and slick techniques.

Keywords:
Obesity, weight, weight loss, water therapy, water intoxication, Hyperhydration, Hyponatremia, Hyponatraemia, National Weight Control Registry, American Obesity Association

Background
It makes economic sense to have one's citizenry in lean-and-mean body shape. This realization has catapulted Obesity in the league of top medical conditions requiring topmost attention. Health and Nutrition Experts devise new strategies everyday to combat the excess lard that girdles the hips and waist of Americans. The problem is so gigantic, that a "National Weight Control Registry" (NWCR) has been set up that chronicles all success stories of people who have managed to maintain at least a 30 pound weight loss for one year or longer [1]. The intention is to share these successes with others who may feel inspired to walk on the tried and tested path to fitness and leanness.

Very broadly, the American Obesity Association [2] categorizes the following treatments that shed your excess fat:

1. Dietary Therapy: You become conscious and alert about what it is that you are eating, when you are eating it, and where you are eating.

2. Physical Activity: You see the huge numbers jogging and walking rapidly in the parks? They are the ones busily burning their calories.

3. Behavior Therapy: This involves conditioning your thinking towards a proactive and positive approach towards shedding weight. Defer indulgence, and reward yourself for it. But not with another binge of food! Take in a movie, maybe. (But without the popcorn or wafers!)

4. Drug Therapy: The market is flooded with medicine pills that claim instant nirvana in obesity control. Pop a pill, and voila! Fat be gone! The AOA page puts its word of caution against relying on this therapy alone for weight loss.

5. Surgery: For extreme cases of obesity, this form of treatment is usually advocated. The surgeon's scalpel can cut away within minutes, layers of fat that jogging takes months to slash.

6. Dietary Supplements: The AOA clearly states that dietary supplements cannot be expected to reduce weight.

7. Liposuction: This is a less severe method compared to surgery; in that a small amount of fat is sucked out from one location in the body. The AOA doubts the efficacy of this approach.

Water Therapy
This author suggests water therapy in place of drug therapy, dietary supplements, surgery and liposuction. When the other therapies are followed in an integrated fashion along with water therapy, the results are better.

What is this therapy? Following is an outline:

0. Note your present weight.

1. Set aside a glass of water with a capacity of about 400 ml for yourself. This is the glass that you will use to drink water throughout the day.

2. After getting up from bed, drink about two glasses of plain water. There are no additives, chemicals, supplements, medicines to be added to this water. Not even fruit juice. You may have it lukewarm, if you wish.

3. Thereafter, every 90 minutes, drink about two glasses of this same water. Continue this regimen till about two hours before you hit the bed. (You shouldn't have to get up in the night to respond to nature's call.)

4. Integrate your dietary control, physical calorie burning and behavior therapy with this therapy.

5. After every month, note your present weight.

The results? I have found people shedding their weight in about three to five months' time, sometimes earlier.

"Water Therapy" is nothing new; if you Google on this phrase, you will come across about 900,000 pages on the subject.

How does it work? Excess water flowing in the body is supposed to dissolve away the bad lipids, besides keeping the system cleansed.

Caveat
There are always two sides to a story, aren't there?

In the first few days, some people might complain of uneasiness caused perhaps by bloated stomach. Others may experience frequent bowel movements. Yet others feel nausea accompanied by headache. These are the manifestations of the body adjusting to the increased intake of water. Perhaps during this time you may halve the glass of water every time you drink. Once this phase of adjustment is over, you can top up the glass once again.

Then there is a medical condition known as "water intoxication" or "hyperhydration", caused when water enters the body more quickly than it can be removed. The excess water may dilute the level of sodium in blood plasma to below 135 mmol per liter, leading to a condition known as Hyponatremia. Typical symptoms of Hyponatremia include nausea, vomiting and headache [3].

Net conclusion? Consult your physician before you launch on this therapy.

Final Word
Water Therapy is a good solution to shedding weight. It has no side-effects, once you keep in mind the caveats discussed here. When used in combination with other, drugless therapies, it holds a good promise to shed the excess fats over a period of a few weeks.

Bibliography
1. National Weight Control Registry. (nil). Website - http://www.nwcr.ws/.
2. The American Obesity Association. (nil). Website - http://www.obesity.org/treatment/weight.shtml.
3. Burfoot, Amby. (nil). How Much Should You Drink During A Marathon? Accessed from the Runner's World website on December 9, 2006 - http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,ss6-242-302--8785-2-3-2,00.html.