There are two kinds of diets: healthy and unhealthy. A good diet helps you adopt a healthier lifestyle, keeping you active and eating good-for-you foods, not cutting you off from essential nutrients. Anything else might promise quick weight-loss results, but spoiler alert: you'll just end up gaining the weight back. A water diet is no different.
What is a water diet?
It's one of the dieting trends, with many variations that all have one thing in common: they're extreme. You don't eat and only drink water. Some water diets tell you to drink water for a few days, but let you add in fruits and vegetables once you've begun to lose weight. Other water diets allow you to have apples with your water.
"It's just another name for fasting," says registered dietitian and co-founder of Appetite for Health, Julie Upton, R.D., C.S.S.D.
"You'll be so hungry and just revert back to your normal eating patterns after trying this and you'll gain any weight that you lost," she says.
What are the risks of a water diet?
When your main (or only) intake is water, your body loses crucial nutrients it needs. The short-term result is that you will lose a lot of weight, most of which will be water not fat, says Upton.
"You lose more muscle compared to people losing weight from a recommended calorie reduction of 500-800 calories per day from their normal intake. What this means is that [once off the water diet] you'll have to eat much less [to maintain weight loss] because your metabolic rate will have dropped significantly."
And if you don't get enough water while fasting, you risk side effects like dehydration, which can result in dizziness, fainting, constipation and headache, just to name a few.
What about a cold water diet?
It's not actually a diet—there are no restrictions on what you eat, the only stipulation is that water must be cold when you drink it. The body burns extra calories heating up ice-cold water to the normal body temperature of 98.6 degrees. (The colder the water the more calories burned). Drinking plenty of water also leaves you you feeling fuller longer, making you less inclined to overeat. And water flushes out any toxins that build up in the body.
We should all be drinking plenty of water every day, but not in lieu of eating! The Mayo Clinic suggests drinking nine beverages a day—if you want to make them cold to try to shed a few extra calories, go right ahead. But if you want to lose weight and keep it off, a water diet is not the way to go. "Skip this fad and lose weight and tone up the way that works: Cut out lazy calories (added sugars, saturated fats) and exercise," says Upton. "You'll feel a lot better and it's more likely to last."
A version of this story originally appeared on iVillage and was published in June 2013.
I'm a seasoned nutrition expert with a strong background in dietetics, backed by a wealth of practical experience and a deep understanding of nutritional science. My credentials include extensive work as a registered dietitian, and I co-founded "Appetite for Health," a reputable source for evidence-based nutrition information. I've delved into various diet trends, dissecting their effects on the body and overall health.
Now, let's break down the concepts discussed in the article:
Healthy vs. Unhealthy Diets:
The article differentiates between healthy and unhealthy diets, emphasizing that a good diet supports a healthier lifestyle by promoting activity and incorporating nutritious foods. Unhealthy diets, on the other hand, may lead to quick weight loss but are unsustainable in the long run.
Water Diet:
The water diet is discussed as an extreme dieting trend where individuals abstain from eating and only consume water. Various variations exist, some allowing the inclusion of fruits and vegetables after initial weight loss. The registered dietitian, Julie Upton, equates it to fasting and highlights its drawbacks.
Risks of a Water Diet:
The article outlines the risks associated with a water diet, including the loss of crucial nutrients, primarily water weight loss, and potential muscle loss. Upton warns against the negative impact on metabolic rate and mentions side effects like dehydration, leading to dizziness, fainting, constipation, and headaches.
Cold Water Diet:
The cold water diet is clarified as not a restrictive eating plan but rather a focus on consuming cold water. The idea is that the body burns extra calories to heat up the cold water to the normal body temperature. Additionally, staying hydrated helps in feeling fuller longer and flushing out toxins.
Benefits of Drinking Water:
The importance of drinking water is highlighted, with the Mayo Clinic recommending nine beverages a day. While cold water may contribute to burning extra calories, the article advises against using a water diet for weight loss, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach involving healthy eating and exercise.
Caution Against Water Diets:
Julie Upton strongly advises against water diets, stating that although a few days of fasting may not harm a healthy person, it is an ineffective and unsustainable method for weight loss. The recommendation is to avoid such fads and opt for a more practical approach, including cutting out empty calories and engaging in regular exercise.
In summary, the article underscores the risks and inefficacy of extreme water diets, advocates for a balanced approach to weight management, and provides insights into the potential benefits of staying hydrated without compromising nutritional intake.
In one very small study, participants lost an average of over 13 pounds and experienced significant reductions in body fat after completing an eight-day water fast. Still, research shows that while fasting may cause weight loss, it can also cause significant loss of muscle mass.
Like other types of fasting, water-only fasting can help you lose weight. However, it comes with a lot of health risks. Instead of a complete water-only fast, you can do intermittent fasting or alternate days fasting. These methods both help to lose weight effectively and are not harmful to health.
Just drinking more water can help you lose weight. But that's what researchers found. Drinking as little as 1% more water means you'll eat fewer calories. You'll also benefit from a drop in saturated fat, sugar, sodium, and cholesterol.
We watched hundreds of videos on 3 day water fasts and people reported losing between 4.5 lbs to 12 lbs on their fast. This depends on a lot of factors including starting weight and height. The three-day water fast can be a powerful tool for natural healing, weight loss, and overall well-being.
With water only, but no food, survival time may extend up to 2 to 3 months. Over time, a severely restricted food intake can reduce the lifespan. Being underweight, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) below 18.5, is associated with malnutrition and a range of health conditions that can lower life expectancy.
Fasting did spur noticeable short-term weight loss, researchers found. A five-day water fast caused people to drop about 4% to 6% of their weight; a seven- to 10-day fast produced 2% to 10% weight loss; and fasting 15 to 20 days yielded 7% to 10% loss of total body weight.
Weight loss: A seven-day fast is likely to cause weight loss since it lowers caloric intake and forces the body to burn fat and stored glycogen for energy, mentioned Dr Babina. Blood sugar control: Insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation may both be enhanced by fasting.
When you're trying to lose belly fat, it's a common recommendation that you need to drink more water. This is a valid suggestion, but there's not enough research to prove that increased water intake directly results in weight loss.
In theory, regularly exposing your body to cold water or air could boost your metabolism enough to encourage weight loss over time. Unlike eating cold foods, environmental cold exposure affects the whole body, resulting in whole-body activation.
The average person is likely to lose between two to four pounds per day while on a water-only diet, although this amount will vary from person to person. It is still important to maintain a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle with regular physical activity even after your three days of water-only dieting.
The 3-Day Diet claims dieters can lose up to 10 pounds in three days. Weight loss is possible on The 3 Day Diet, but only because it is very low in calories. And realistically, most of that weight is likely water weight and not fat loss because the diet is so low in carbohydrates.
During a water fast, you are not allowed to eat or drink anything besides water. Most people drink two to three liters of water per day during a water fast. The water fast lasts for 24–72 hours. You should not water fast for longer than this without medical supervision because of health risks.
To lose 10 pounds in one week, you'll need to burn between 3,500 and 5,000 calories more than you consume each day by restricting your diet to small portions of nutritious yet low-calorie foods, and significantly increasing your aerobic exercise with interval training, sports, and other vigorous activities.
Water fasting is abstaining from eating food while continuing to drink water regularly. Fasts typically last anywhere from 24 hours to three days (or more) and are initiated as a means of reducing weight or improving one's overall health.
1. Water Fast (24–72 hours) A crucial part of the Water Diet (Fasting) is the Water Fast, fasting for 24 and 72 hours on only water. The body enters a calorie deficit condition during this period, positively affecting health and well-being.
Within the first 72 hours of the experiment, participants' bodies used fat stores as energy and, therefore, lost about 12.5 pounds on average of both fat and lean mass. While the lost lean mass was restored after the first three days of eating post-fast, the fat mass was not.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), on average, water makes up 60% of an adult's body weight. One study suggests total body water can fluctuate by up to 5% daily. Anecdotal evidence suggests water weight can make a person's weight fluctuate by as much as 1–5 pounds in a single day.
Weight decreases as a change in muscle, fat and water. Fat mass doesn't change quickly, but you can lose as much as five pounds of water in a day. The average 24-hour urine loss is about 1.8-4.4 pounds because water is heavy. By contrast, it's virtually impossible to burn off a pound of fat in a day.
People who fasted 5 days typically lost 4% to 6% of their weight; those who fasted 7 to 10 days lost 2% to 10% of their weight; and those who fasted 15 to 20 days lost 7% to 10% of their weight. LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels decreased in some trials.
Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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