The Simplest, Cheapest Weight Loss Tip Ever!

Losing weight could be as straightforward as turning on the kitchen tap.

A new study found that middle-age and older adults who drank a couple of glasses of water before each meal lost about 30 percent more weight than those who didn't.

Common wisdom has long held that drinking water before meals can promote weight loss, but there were no studies proving the point. To test it, researchers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg assigned 48 overweight  men and women ages 55 to 75 to one of two groups. Both groups consumed low-fat, low-calorie diets for 12 weeks, but one group was told to drink two 8-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch and dinner.

They were concerned that they might have trouble drinking this much water before each meal but they had no problems.

At the end of the 12 weeks, the water drinkers shed about 15.5 pounds, while the other group dropped about 11 pounds.

They found that after a year both groups succeeded in keeping the pounds off, but those who continued to drink water before meals lost even a bit more, an average of 1.5 pounds. Why is water so effective?  It may be because it fills the stomach with a zero-calorie fluid, so people eat less.

Drinking water before meals may work only if you've reached middle age. Researchers believe that in younger people, water begins to leave the stomach almost immediately. But in older people, it takes longer for the stomach to empty so they feel full for a longer time.

This interesting study shows that drinking water before meals provides some benefit in terms of weight loss. Clearly, any tool we have to help people feel more full has value.

The research was presented in Boston on Aug. 23 at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. The study was funded by the Institute for Public Health and Water Research, a nonprofit, independent science organization that was launched by an unrestricted grant from the Brita Products. Sometimes the smallest things can have the biggest impact. I know I've written about drinking water before, but this just puts a little more emphasis on the use of water to lose weight.
As always, comments & suggestions are welcome. Thanks for visiting! Terry