December 2003
Water-induced thermogenesis.

Boschmann M, Steiniger J, Hille U, Tank J, Adams F, Sharma AM, Klaus S, Luft FC, Jordan J.

Franz-Volhard Clinical Research Center and Helios-Klinikum-Berlin, Medical
Link to article

Faculty of the Charite, Humboldt-University, D-13125 Berlin, Germany.

Drinking lots of water is commonly espoused in weight loss regimens and is regarded as healthy; however, few systematic studies address this notion. In 14 healthy, normal-weight subjects (seven men and seven women), we assessed the effect of drinking 500 ml of water on energy expenditure and substrate oxidation rates by using whole-room indirect calorimetry. The effect of water drinking on adipose tissue metabolism was assessed with the microdialysis technique. Drinking 500 ml of water increased metabolic rate by 30%. The increase occurred within 10 min and reached a maximum after 30-40 min. The total thermogenic response was about 100 kJ. About 40% of the thermogenic effect originated from warming the water from 22 to 37 C. In men, lipids mainly fueled the increase in metabolic rate. In contrast, in women carbohydrates were mainly used as the energy source. The increase in energy expenditure with water was diminished with systemic beta-adrenoreceptor blockade. Thus, drinking 2 liters of water per day would augment energy expenditure by approximately 400 kJ. Therefore, the thermogenic effect of water should be considered when estimating energy expenditure, particularly during weight loss programs.

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More evidence that drinking water helps lose weight!

thanks for the info on water consumption--I do MUCH better when I drink all my water

Probably burn all the extra calories from running full speed to the potty every 10 minutes.

Does anybody know how many calories equal 400kJ? Also this means that colder the water is, the more energy you expend heating it up. So drink lots of ice cold water.

400kJ = 96 calories (400/4.184)

No, the article says the thermogenic effect was reached by *warming* the water from 22 degrees to 37 degrees C. That would be 70 to 96 degrees F.

Interesting article. Thanks for posting.

But it didn't say what temp. the water was when the people drank it. If they were drinking room temp. water, it would be somewhere around 70 degrees. Which would explain why the body only used energy to warm it from 70 to 96. However, if they drank water that was 35 degrees.....the body WOULD have to use energy to warm the water.

Maybe they meant the water was drunk at 70 degrees and when it had to be warmed to body temp, that's what caused the thermogenic effect. I didn't think of it that way.

Water is very good for the body indeed as further evidenced diemde's post (cheers btw!), but the termperature at which it is consumed makes a nominal difference to the calories used to warm it up to one's body temperature.

Does drinking ice water burn calories?



That only causes 40% of the thermogenic response according to the original post. The remaining 60% was due to the metabolic response of body tissues.

Regardless - LET'S DRINK WATER!!

Rasputin, that was a great article you posted! I especially loved this line:

And unless your urine is coming out ice cold, your body must be raising the temperature of the water.

Here's to water!

Interesting concept...I've noticed I've been losing faster since early December than I was immediately before. I hadn't considered the Calories burned warming my Slushees/Slurpees up to Body temperature. I had noticed though that a Diet Pepsi Slurpee seemed to have a negative Caloric effect...which it likely does:

44 oz / 16 oz-lb = 2.75 pounds
2.75 lbs x 454 g-lb = 1248.5g = 1.2485 kg

Let's assume for this purpose a Slurpee is 0F (-18C)

1.2485 kg x (37C - -18C) = 1.2485 kg x 55C = 66.6675 kcal

Since a Diet Pepsi Slurpee only contributes 24 kcal, that means drinking one would actually burn more Calories than it contributes. Of course, the same cannot be said for Regular (Sugary) Slurpees as they contain 150g of Sugar which contributes about 600 Calories. The < 67 kcal burned heating the Slushee is only a drop in the bucket compared to the 600 kcal in the Slurpee itself.

Now, that said, a 7-11 Slurpee is likely not 0F...Though, the crushed ice Stevia Sweetened Slushees I make probably are at least that cold as they stay frozen for quite a while after being left out.

LOL diemde - that line cracked me up too!