What on earth does water have to do with weight loss? Actually, a lot more than you previously imagined.

Are you aware that some studies have shown that your brain cannot distinguish between hunger and thirst? Sometimes when your body is telling you that you are thirsty, your brain may be hearing that you are hungry. So what do you do? You put food in your mouth when a glass of water might have been sufficient. Most food has calories, most water doesn't. Simple equation. 'Nuff said on that topic.

By the way, ever wake up in the middle of the night and crave a snack? Nine times out of ten, a glass of water will do the trick. I know, I didn't believe it either until I tried it. It really works!

Tissue, muscle, cells, even blood are all comprised to a large per cent of water. When your brain starts getting signals that water is needed...well, remember the confusion factor mentioned above? We eat something instead of giving our body what it really craves and needs! Your entire body works much better, by the way, when the fluid levels are kept up where they need to be.

BUT I DRINK LOTS OF LIQUID AND STILL GAIN WEIGHT!

Sure you do, but what KIND of liquid. I won't even talk about sodas, coffee, or tea sweetened with sugar. I'm going to assume that you already know that sugar is not the way to go if you want to lose weight, but what about the artificially sweetened drinks?

Did you know...

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS CAN CAUSE YOU TO GAIN WEIGHT?

Some studies have shown that using artificial sweeteners can contribute to weight gain in at least two ways.

First, there is the confusion factor. When you use artificial sweeteners, you, and your brain, become confused about the calorie content of the food you eat. You may actually find yourself eating more in an effort to satisfy an internal urge or interpretation, and this urge may be related to the assumed "fact" that the sweet soda you just drank didn't have that many calories, so neither does this cinnamon roll. Actually, before artificial sweeteners, our bodies and brains were pretty good at relating calorie content to food based on the sweetness.

A WORD FOR PARENTS!

Our bodies' understanding of "sweetness" and the development of the internal calorie estimating apparatus mentioned above apparently occurs in childhood. Early use of artificial sweeteners could cause the grown-up years later to ingest more of sweet foods than they should.

The second way in which artificial sweeteners may contribute to weight gain is what could be called...

THE SUGAR TRAP!

Your body is a complicated device which has developed a huge number of inter-related, synergistic, stimulus sensing and automatic response mechanisms. It has learned to begin things happening inside when something sweet is detected. The digestive system is prepared to receive a certain type of fuel...which it welcomes! When you ingest food or drink which has been artificially sweetened, all your little hormones, glands, cells, and systems begin asking, "What's going on?" Like prisoners in an old movie, they start rattling their tin cups and yelling out, "FEED ME!" Oh yeah, that was the plant in "Little Shop Of Horrors", wasn't it?

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