Water Weight Loss
If you’re trying to lose weight, drink more water. That’s what many dieters believe. But is that assertion accurate or just a myth? Several recently published studies help to clarify this issue. As is often the case, there isn’t a simple yes or no answer to this question. But looking at the research carefully can help us figure out how to use water to its greatest advantage.
A trial in the August issue of the journal Obesity set out to test the effects of pre-meal water consumption on caloric intake and weight loss. A total of 48 men and women (aged 55-75) were randomly divided into two groups. Half of the participants were assigned a calorie restricted diet. The remainder were asked to follow the same “hypocaloric” diet with one additional measure: they had to drink 500 ml (about 16 ounces) of water before each meal. All the participants had complete control over the quantities of food that they ate. The researchers calculated the approximate number of calories consumed in sample meals eaten at the start and end of the 12 week trial. Here’s some of the data that was collected.
Drinking water prior to meals resulted in an additional weight loss of over 4 lbs beyond that of diet alone. This equaled a 44% larger weight reduction for those consuming the additional water. Pre-meal water consumption led to a lower caloric intake at the start of the trial (about 50 calories less per meal). The difference narrowed a bit by the 12 week mark to roughly 25 fewer calories.The authors of the research concluded that “when combined with a hypocaloric diet, consuming 500 ml water prior to each main meal leads to greater weight loss than a hypocaloric diet alone in middle-aged and older adults”. (1)
...
