does drinking ice water help lose weight?

does drinking ice water help lose weight?

Every few years I hear something about how easy it is to lose weight by drinking ice water, or how drinking cold water burns more calories. Can this really be true?

Well, according to the folks at lifehack, drinking a half gallon of cold water will cause your body to burn 116 calories of energy in order to reheat itself back to "normal" temperature. So, if you drink 64 ounces of cold water every day, you would burn 3,480 calories per month, which is almost the exact amount required to lose 1 pound of fat.

This may not be the best, or fastest, way to lose weight, but it could be another arrow in your quiver - along with eating smaller portions and active and passive fitness - for lasting, long-term, lifestyle changes.

Additional Thoughts

• Drinking at least 64 ounces of water a day is a healthy habit, whether it's ice cold or not. It keeps your body hydrated, which helps your body flush out any toxins, and it'll reduce your want/need to quench your thirst with a sugary soda!
• Drinking ice water is hard to do if you work in an office with an over zealous air conditioning unit.
• If you drink your ice water quickly, and there's ice left in the cup, you didn't drink your entire allotment of ounces.
• If you drink your ice water really quickly, you'll get a brain freeze!
• Personally, I don't like living on the margins. If I'm trying to lose weight (or if I'm helping somebody else), I want to know that I'm eating fewer calories than my base metabolic rate. That way weight loss is guaranteed. Any additional calories I burn from exercising or drinking cold water become bonus calories, which just helps me lose weight faster.

image credit - microsoft clipart

Can drinking ice water help you lose weight? Sure.

Is drinking ice water the secret to easy weight loss without worrying about anything else (the magic weight loss pill)? Of course not.

-Chris Butterworth

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