Drinking Water Before Meals Can Lead to Weight Loss

Last week, scientists reported results of a three-month clinical trial, whose results confirm that drinking two eight-ounce glasses of water before meals leads to substantial weight loss. The weight-loss findings were presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the study was funded by The Institute for Public Health and Water Research.

“We are presenting results of the first randomized controlled intervention trial demonstrating that increased water consumption is an effective weight loss strategy,” said senior author Brenda Davy, Ph.D., of Virginia Tech. Dr. Davy went on to say, “…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.” She pointed out that folklore and everyday experience long have suggested that water can help promote weight loss. But there has been surprisingly little scientific information on the topic.

Dr. Davy cited an earlier study by her group, which showed that middle aged and older people who drank two cups of water right before eating a meal consumed 75 to 90 fewer calories during it (Van Walleghen EL et al. 2007). The current study involved 48 adults aged 55-75 years, divided into two groups: One group drank 2 cups of water prior to their meals and the other did not. All of the subjects ate a low-calorie diet during the study. Over the course of 12 weeks, water drinkers lost about 15.5 pounds, while the non-water drinkers lost about 11 pounds.

As the authors concluded, “Thus, when combined with a hypocaloric [low calorie] diet, consuming 500 ml [16 ounces of] water prior to each main meal leads to greater weight loss than a hypocaloric diet alone in middle-aged and older adults.” (Dennis EA et al. 2010)

Davy said drinking ample water before a meal may work simply because people feel fuller and eat less calorie-containing food during the meal. Increased water consumption may also help people lose weight if they drink it in place of sweetened calorie-containing beverages, said Davy.

Sources
American Chemical Society (ACS). Clinical trial confirms effectiveness of simple appetite control method. August 23, 2010. Accessed at http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_025391
Davy BM, Dennis EA, Dengo AL, Wilson KL, Davy KP. Water consumption reduces energy intake at a breakfast meal in obese older adults. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008 Jul;108(7):1236-9.
Dennis EA, Dengo AL, Comber DL, Flack KD, Savla J, Davy KP, Davy BM. Water consumption increases weight loss during a hypocaloric diet intervention in middle-aged and older adults. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Feb;18(2):300-7. Epub 2009 Aug 6.
Dennis EA, Flack KD, Davy BM. Beverage consumption and adult weight management: A review. Eat Behav. 2009 Dec;10(4):237-46. Epub 2009 Jul 16. Review.
Van Walleghen EL, Orr JS, Gentile CL, Davy BM. Pre-meal water consumption reduces meal energy intake in older but not younger subjects. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007 Jan;15(1):93-9.