Water before meals helps promote weight loss--study

According to researchers, drinking water before meals help dieters restrict their calorie intake and subsequently shed the extra pounds.

Senior author of the study, Dr Brenda Davy, a registered dietician from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg stated, “We are presenting results of the first randomized controlled intervention trial demonstrating that increased water consumption is an effective weight loss strategy.

“We found in earlier studies that middle aged and older people who drank two cups of water right before eating a meal ate between 75 and 90 fewer calories during that meal.

"In this recent study, we found that over the course of 12 weeks, dieters who drank water before meals three times per day lost about 5 pounds more than dieters who did not increase their water intake.”

Link between water consumption and weight loss assessed
In order to establish a link between weight loss and water consumption, the researchers recruited 48 adults between age 55 and 75 years.

The participants were split into two groups and monitored over a period of 12 weeks.

All of the subjects were placed on a low calorie diet throughout the study, but one group was asked to drink two glasses of water before every meal.

Prior to joining the trial, the participants reported drinking about 1.5 glasses of water daily.

Observations by the researchers
The researchers found that the water drinkers ate nearly 100 fewer calories at each meal. Over time, that deficit added to weight loss.

After three months, the group that drank water lost about 15.5lbs, while the others lost only 11 pounds. In addition, the water drinkers managed to keep the weight off for a full year after the trial.

They also noticed other benefits. "Many of our participants in the water group commented they felt they were thinking a lot more clearly; their memory was better,” said Davy.

Some reasons offered
Although the researchers are not sure how drinking water before meals facilitates weight management, they believe it is effective because water fills the stomach with liquid that has no calories.

Experts theorize that individuals who feel full much sooner will avoid eating excessively.

Recommended intake of water
No one knows how much water people should drink daily, but the federal Institute of Medicine in U.S. recommends that healthy people should drink between nine and 13 cups of fluids every day, including water and other beverages.

However, drinking too much water can lead to a rare but serious condition known as water intoxication.

A registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner of Chicago stated, "No matter what the latest research on water says, water is necessary for every bodily function, from digestion to concentration to energy levels. Staying well hydrated is the foundation of optimal health and wellness.”

The study was funded by the Institute for Public Health and Water Research. The findings were reported at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Boston.