Secret #2: Drink Your Water and Shrink Your Belly

I’m sure it’s not news to you that you need to drink water to be healthy. 

But do you have any idea how drinking water is tied to the size of your belly? 

Here are 5 reasons why you MUST drink enough water to maintain a flat tummy!

1. Water Detoxifies Your Body

Your body takes in a lot of toxins from the foods you eat, the cleaning and hygiene products you use and the many pollutants you’re exposed to in the environment. 

These toxins you take in every day store in your fats tissues and cells, including the area around your belly! 

The more toxic your body gets the more sluggish your cells and organs become.  Your liver, under toxic load, loses its ability to metabolize fat efficiently, and when this happens you will gain weight and it becomes very difficult to get it off!

The more toxins you take in, the more fat your body also holds onto!  Your body stores toxins in your fat as a defense mechanism to protect your vital organs.  

By drinking pure water you help flush your body of these many toxins.  And as you rid your body of toxins, it won’t need as much fat to store them and your body will begin to release any excess fat, including the unwanted fat you carry around your belly!

In a nutshell, drinking clean helps you get lean.

2. Water Helps Your Body Metabolize Stored Fat

Your kidneys rely heavily on staying hydrated.  When they don’t get enough water they cannot work to full capacity and your liver must assist them, bearing some of their load. 

As I just mentioned in tip #2, your liver plays a serious role in weight loss and weight management, as one of its jobs is to metabolize stored fat.  Your liver will not only become less efficient through toxic overload—it can also work less efficiently by “helping out” your kidneys. 

So, if your liver has to do some of your kidneys’ work, it means your liver metabolizes less fat and that means more fat gets stored on your body and weight loss comes to a serious standstill! 

By staying hydrated you help your kidneys and liver function properly, which ultimately helps your body metabolize fat more efficiently.

3. Water Reduces Bloating

When your body is starved for water it perceives this as a threat to your survival, and instinctively, it scavenges water from wherever it can inside your body and holds on to every last drop.  This water hoarding creates the appearance of bloating. 

Yes, many women have pudgy bellies, butts and thighs simply because they’re holding onto excess water weight!

When your body has the water it needs, it will naturally let go of excess water and bloating will subside, reducing the size of your tummy.

4. Water Helps Maintain Healthy Digestion and Elimination

As I just mentioned in tip #3, when your body is dehydrated it will scavenge water from anywhere inside your body, specifically your organs.  This water robbery leaves your stomach and colon linings dry which results in stomach ulcers and constipation.  So this means your digestion and elimination become impaired. 

Saliva contains digestive enzymes that help you break down foods.  If you’re dehydrated, and your saliva production becomes insufficient, the foods you eat won’t be properly broken down for further digestion in your stomach and intestines.  If your body can’t properly breakdown foods, it makes maintaining a nice flat stomach a serious challenge!

Dehydration also leads to indigestion and heartburn, as your body robs moisture from the mucus membrane of your stomach, thereby leaving your stomach unprotected from hydrochloric acid (HCL). The most common “remedy” for such discomfort is to take antacids, but antacids inhibit the proper breakdown of proteins.  And proteins are needed for your body’s repair.  So if the proteins you eat are not broken down and absorbed, that means your body will break down its own proteins from your muscles!

The health of your colon is also seriously impaired when you don’t drink enough water.  When you’re dehydrated, the mucus membrane in your colon becomes dry and cannot properly lubricate the colon to help “keep things moving.”  It then becomes difficult to have a bowel movement and this leads to constipation.  

One of the colon’s jobs is to recycle water from your stools, as water is needed.  So when you’re dehydrated your colon will suck as much water as possible from your stools to be used wherever your body needs water.  This water-sucking from your stools also makes having a bowel movement a challenge!

And if you’re constipated, that means you’re not eliminating your own waste—you’re not taking out your own garbage!  This only results in a toxic bowel and a very bloated belly!

With proper hydration your ability to digest and eliminate foods (real, whole foods that is,) can be significantly restored.

5. Water Curbs Hunger Pangs

Did you know that hunger pangs could actually be a sign of dehydration?

People often think they’re hungry, when really they just need water! 

So if you’re mistaking dehydration for hunger there’s a good chance you’re overeating!

In his book Your Body’s Many Cries for Water:  You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty, Dr. Batmanghelidj references studies where the participants were told to drink water at the first sign of hunger instead of eating food.  In most cases, peoples’ hunger pangs subsided and many of the participants lost 30-40 pounds in less than a year, simply by drinking water instead of eating something!

So the next time you get hunger pangs, try drinking an 8-ounce glass of water before reaching for something to munch on—there’s good chance your body is thirsty!

Now you have some flat-belly reasons to start drinking more water and making sure you’re staying hydrated!

Stay tuned for Secret #3 to Blitzing Your Belly Fat: Your Hidden Food Intolerance and Your Paunch Belly.

To your water-induced flat tummy,