Does Drinking Water Before Bed Help You Lose Weight?

Drinking water before bed can help with weight loss by preventing overeating, boosting metabolism, and supporting overall hydration, but it won’t directly cause weight loss on its own.

Weight loss isn’t an overnight event. It requires determination, time, effort, and an appropriate strategy to shed those extra pounds. Poor lifestyle choices, unhealthy food habits, inadequate physical activity, stress, and sleep disorders are among the significant factors behind health problems stemming from weight mismanagement. (1)

As a healthcare professional, I frequently encounter queries about diet, optimal meal times, and more. A recurring question I often address is the impact of drinking water before bedtime on weight loss.

This article covers expectations, weight loss methods, the role of water, its potential impact on weight loss during sleep, and drawbacks associated with bedtime water consumption!

How Does the Weight Loss Process Work?

To start losing weight, your first step should be to create a calorie deficit. Your body is fueled with calories from the food and beverages you consume daily. A calorie deficit is when you burn more calories than you consume in a day.

While restricting food intake can help create a calorie deficit, exercising can also burn calories and contribute to the process. That’s why calorie restriction and regular workouts are recommended for weight loss.

You can also use a calorie deficit calculator to determine how many calories you must cut to reach your weight loss target.

Water can also support digestion and aid nutrient absorption and waste elimination. Moreover, it can boost your energy levels by keeping you hydrated.

Let’s explore more on how water can aid in losing weight.

Role of Water in Weight Loss

According to scientific evidence, the human body comprises roughly 60% water. (3) This indicates that water plays a vital role in your body functions. Here are reasons why staying hydrated can help you lose weight:

Water Can Suppress Appetite

Every time you are hungry, your natural impulse is to look for food. However, not all hunger signals mean your body requires food; sometimes, what you really need is water.

Mild dehydration can trigger thirst, which is often misinterpreted as hunger. Drinking water might curb dehydration-induced cravings.

However, this does not mean you should substitute food with water. Drinking more water can promote satiation as water can quickly pass through your body to render a feeling of fullness.

Drinking water before a meal can create a sense of fullness and reduce your appetite. This can help you restrict your overall caloric intake and help manage weight. (2)

A study conducted among non-obese young males revealed that consuming 568 ml water just before a meal substantially reduced their appetite. (4)

Water May Stimulate Metabolism

Metabolism plays a pivotal role in managing your body weight. It is a process by which the body breaks down nutrients from your food into energy. Your body needs energy for various voluntary and involuntary actions such as breathing, blood circulation, cell repair, etc. A study revealed that drinking water can stimulate thermogenesis. (5)

Thermogenesis is a process where the body dissipates energy through heat generation. When you drink cold water, your body expends energy to warm up the fluid. The more energy your body spends, the higher your metabolism rate. Hence, drinking water can induce weight loss through heightened metabolism.

Drinking Water Can Lower Your Craving for Caloric Beverages

If you are into a habit of drinking soda, sweetened juices, tea, coffee, flavored drinks, alcoholic beverages, or even sports drinks, you are possibly consuming more calories than you can even imagine.

Replacing such drinks with plain water can reduce the overall calorie consumption. Plain water contains zero calories. 

Moreover, it contains essential minerals that can help maintain your body’s electrolyte balance.

Water Can Relieve Bloating

Drinking more water increases urine production, improves renal function, and can also help bowel movement. The more you keep your body hydrated, the less likely you are to suffer ills of constipation and abdominal bloating.

Drinking ample water can eliminate several dehydration-related risks. Plus, it can boost mood and regulate blood pressure.

How Can Drinking Water Before Sleeping Help in Achieving Your Fitness Goals?

Let’s closely examine how drinking water before bedtime can promote weight loss.

Prevents Dehydration

Hydration has been associated with weight loss. Studies indicate that increased water intake can help in weight loss. (6) 

Studies indicate that inadequate hydration can negatively impact sleep, resulting in a shorter sleep duration. 

Lack of quality sleep can lead to higher energy demands, which you may satisfy with snacks high in carbs and fats. This can result in irregular eating patterns, increasing your calorie consumption and potentially leading to weight gain. (7)(8)(9)

Drinking water before hitting the bed can prevent dehydration, ensure better sleep, and boost weight loss.

Regulates Body Temperature

Drinking water can have a cooling effect on your body and regulate your body temperature. Hence, when you drink water before going to bed, it can help keep your body cool at night, promoting better sleep. (10)

A good night’s sleep can help prevent cravings for sugary food and lessen fatigue. It can also reduce levels of cortisol and ensure better hormonal balance. So, poor sleep is associated with weight gain, while good sleep can support your weight loss journey.

Improves Mood

Besides regulating body temperature and promoting good sleep, drinking water can improve mood and restore a sense of calm. (11)

It keeps you more in control and disciplined towards your weight loss journey. Low water intake affects your day and decreases decision-making abilities and self-restraint. 

Hence, drinking water before bed can uplift your mood and indirectly aid in your weight loss goals.

Works as a Natural Cleanser

Water can naturally detox your body. Drinking water before bed can increase sweat output. When you sweat, it removes excess salts and toxins through the skin cells. This can help you lose weight. 

Water can help your kidneys flush toxins and waste. This filtration helps your body retain essential nutrients. Dehydration can cause the kidneys to retain fluid and also result in lumpy stools. 

Drinking a certain amount of water before bed can help your kidneys and digestive system eliminate waste. Staying hydrated can prevent your body from retaining waste that may add a few kilos to your overall weight. 

Drawbacks of Drinking Water Before Going to Bed

Although drinking water can help manage weight, consuming excessive water before sleeping may cause nocturia. Your body burns water while breathing, even when you are asleep. However, since the body is inactive during that time, the urinary output is automatically less. However, having water can disturb the process and increase your requirement to pee. 

Waking up frequently to urinate in the middle of your sleep is termed nocturia. Drinking too much water right before jumping into the bed can cause this condition and disrupt sleep.  It can further lead to health issues due to sleep deprivation, which includes high blood pressure and high cholesterol. You must sleep at least six hours a day to avoid sleep-related problems.

It is best to consider relieving your bladder at least once before you sleep. Also, avoid overdrinking. A glass of water should be enough and may not interfere with sleep. You can try increasing the quantity of water to a little more to see whether it works for you.

Furthermore, age influences how your body responds to consuming water before sleep. Seniors might experience an overactive bladder more frequently. Diminished brain function can also interfere with the brain’s signals to the bladder, affecting urinary function. Conditions like diabetes further impact this process.

If you’re dealing with such conditions, it’s wise to skip drinking water right before bed. Instead, consider consuming water 10-15 minutes earlier and make a trip to the restroom, allowing your body ample time to pass the urine.

Things To Know About Drinking Water

You should watch for signs of dehydration to understand your body’s water needs. Dark yellow urine is a telltale sign that your body needs hydration.

Try having at least a gallon of water daily, and see how your body responds. Increased bathroom visits are common during pregnancy, necessitating a higher water intake. Your activity levels and weather also impact your water consumption.

You should also ensure the food you consume has water content. Fruits and vegetables have a high water percentage. Develop a habit of drinking water pre- and post-meals and exercise.

If you plan to lose weight, drink water when you feel hungry, and you might see your cravings fade.

FAQs

Can drinking water before bed lead to weight gain?

Yes, technically speaking, drinking water before heading to sleep can show a weight gain on the weighing scale. However, that is only water weight and does not contribute to calories. So, the weight you may seem to gain is not from fat but only water. Hence, you don’t have to fear retaining it as it will be excreted as urine.

Can I lose my water weight?

You can lose water weight when your body burns the glycogen reserves. Drinking more water can enable your kidneys to flush out the water weight that your body might have retained from foods containing high sodium, carbohydrates, and sugar.

What is the role of water in burning fat?

Water is required for metabolizing fat and carbohydrates in the body. Drinking 500ml of water can increase metabolic rate by 30%. This shows that increased water intake could play a potent role in burning fat through hydrolysis and lipolysis. (12)

Concluding Thoughts

Water plays a crucial role in sustaining good health, with numerous studies also suggesting its beneficial impact on promoting weight loss. Drinking water, particularly before bed, certainly helps in weight loss, though indirectly.

Yet, it’s the total water intake rather than the timing that might support your weight loss efforts. An average adult should aim for 11-15 cups of water daily.

Avoid drinking excessive amounts of water before bed to avoid frequent bathroom visits throughout the night. Spacing your water intake throughout the day and using it to replace sugary and caloric beverages can help achieve your weight loss targets.

Regular exercise and a healthy diet naturally increase your body’s need for water. Opting for plain water to satisfy your thirst, instead of calorie-laden drinks, helps you stay on track with your weight loss goals.

References

1. Chatterjee, A., Gerdes, M., & Martínez, S. (2020, May 11). Identification of Risk Factors Associated with Obesity and Overweight—A Machine Learning Overview. Sensors.
2. Dennis, E.A. et al. (2009) ‘Water Consumption Increases Weight Loss During a Hypocaloric Diet Intervention in Middle-aged and Older Adults’, Obesity, 18(2), pp. 300–307.
3. Tobias, A. (2022, October 3). Physiology, Water Balance. StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf.
4. Corney, R. A., Sunderland, C., & James, L. J. (2015, April 18). Immediate pre-meal water ingestion decreases voluntary food intake in lean young males—European Journal of Nutrition.
5. Vij, V.A. (2013) ‘Effect of “Water Induced Thermogenesis” on Body Weight, Body Mass Index and Body Composition of Overweight Subjects’, JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH, 7(9).
6. “Increased Hydration Can Be Associated with Weight Loss.” Frontiers in Nutrition, vol. 3, no. 18, 10 June 2016,
7. Rosinger, A. Y., Chang, A. M., Buxton, O. M., Li, J., Wu, S., & Gao, X. (2018, November 5). Short sleep duration is associated with inadequate hydration: cross-cultural evidence from US and Chinese adults. SLEEP.
8. Papatriantafyllou, Evangelia, et al. “Sleep Deprivation: Effects on Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance.” Nutrients, vol. 14, no. 8, 1 Jan. 2022, p. 1549.
9. Li, A., Li, X., Zhou, T., Ma, H., Heianza, Y., Williamson, D. A., Smith, S. R., Bray, G. A., Sacks, F. M., & Qi, L. (2022, February 24). Sleep Disturbance and Changes in Energy Intake and Body Composition During Weight Loss in the POUNDS Lost Trial. Diabetes. 
10. Okamoto-Mizuno, Kazue, and Koh Mizuno. “Effects of Thermal Environment on Sleep and Circadian Rhythm.” Journal of Physiological Anthropology, vol. 31, no. 1, 31 May 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3427038/#B1,
11. Pross, Nathalie, et al. “Effects of Changes in Water Intake on Mood of High and Low Drinkers.” PloS One, vol. 9, no. 4, 2014, p. e94754.
12. Boschmann, M., Steiniger, J., Hille, U., Tank, J., Adams, F., Sharma, A. M., Schimrigk, Luft, F. C., & Jordan, J. (2003, December 1). Water-Induced Thermogenesis. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

---