If fat loss (or "toning up") is your goal, can dehydration be getting in your way?
The short answer is yes. There are many reasons why and I'm going to share some of those here today with you.
1) High levels of glucose can be converted into fructose (which favors fat storage rather than active energy production first and then fat storage). A few things to dissect here. This means if you consume sugar (which is 50% glucose and 50% fructose) or anything with high fructose corn syrup (like soda), you don't have to just deal with fat gain if there's an excess of calories. You'll be encouraging fat gain simply from consuming them. It also means if you're dehydrated, your body will likely get better at fat storage. This is because fat storage isn't just to store energy for later, it stores and releases water later too. So, dehydration makes your body better at fat storage on purpose as a survival mechanism. Think: the humps on a camel's back which are fat storage and serve the purpose of supplying water when broken down and in desert environments.
2) We become more resistant to leptin (meaning, we don't feel full when we 'should') when we're dehydrated. We get fluids from many foods we eat so if we're not drinking enough, our body wants us to eat more and it'll affect the hormones that tell your body whether it's hungry or full just to make that happen.
3) We use water for all of our cellular processes. If we have even just slightly less than we need, things will slow down to conserve. Metabolism slows. And good luck convincing your brain to do anything but sit still and watch Netflix then!
4) Activity performance, endurance, speed and strength all decrease with even slight dehydration. Your workouts then become less effective.
5) Dehydration often leads to elevated cortisol levels, which tell the body to store more fat when it becomes a chronic issue so there's fast energy available for future 'high stress' moments. The preferred storage place for this fat is in the belly area.
So, what can be done about it?
For most people, most of the time, aiming to drink half your body weight in lbs in ounces of water per day is a great place to work up to. In fact, you can use a body weight you feel most comfortable at to determine this calculation because excess body fat isn't very metabolically active and doesn't require a whole bunch of extra fluid intake. Example: if you're 200 lbs but feel best around 150 lbs, use 150 lbs. Divide that by 2. That equals 75. If no contraindications, you can aim to get about 75 ounces of water per day.
What counts? I count caffeinated beverages as a wash but count water, seltzer, decaf coffee, decaf tea, and smoothies as part of my intake.
What else? Minerals / electrolytes determine whether or not our water intake mostly passes right through us or actually gets taken into our cells to hydrate them on the inside. Nailing this part down can help some people feel SO much better, more energy, less headaches, etc. If you eat out a lot or eat a bunch of processed food, you might be overdoing the sodium. But if you eat mostly real foods and cook for yourself and don't salt your food -- especially if you also sweat frequently -- there's a good chance you're not getting enough sodium. And it's not just sodium! It's also potassium, magnesium, chloride, calcium, phosphate ...
You have to come up with the best strategy for you and that'll depend on lots of variables! Be sure to run things by a trusted healthcare provider. I, personally, include electrolytes like LMNT or Relyte pretty much daily and feel a big difference in doing so. I might only have 1/2 serving if it's a day I'm not sweating much and 1 - 1.5 servings on a heavy sweating day (like a sauna sesh). You can also make your own electrolyte drinks at home without needing to buy any special products. I just highly recommend avoiding products like Gatorade or Powerade as much as possible because of ingredients like dye, flavor, sugar, artificial sugar, etc.
So drink up. Get minerals. And remove that barrier to fat loss (or just enjoy health optimization if fat loss isn't your goal)!
XO,
Tara
P.S. The waitlist for TRANSFORM: Body + Mind will be open for only 2 more weeks!! Hop on it if you're interested in doing this pre-summer round. I'm only running this course 1 more time in 2023 and it'll be in the Fall. This 28-day metabolism-boosting course is for those with fat loss, muscle-building or "toning up" goals who want to improve their health at the same time. Check out this link for details.