BOSTON (USA) – So long slimming pills and strict diets. One simple change can help maintain weight and regulate the amount of food we consume: drinking water before meals. Dietologists have been saying it for years, but it’s only recently that studies by renowned international researchers have provided scientific proof.
TWO GLASSES BEFORE EACH MEAL – In a randomised study published in the review Obesity in February 2010 and presented during the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, scientists from Virginia Tech show that drinking two glasses of water before each meal helps lose weight. The researchers monitored a group of 48 overweight adults between the ages of 55 and 75 who had been on a low-calorie diet for around three months (1,200 calories a day for the women and 1,500 calories a day for the men). Half the participants were told to drink two 250 ml glasses of water before breakfast, lunch and dinner. At the end of the study, the group that drank the water before meals had lost on average 15 lbs each, whilst those who did not lost under 11 lbs. So, after three months, the obese people who drank half a litre of water before each meal lost 4lbs 6 oz. more than people who didn’t drink more water.
PREVIOUS STUDIES – In a previous study the weight-loss benefits of drinking water were analysed and it was found that overweight study participants who drank water before breakfast reduced their calorie intake by 13%. A third study, this time in 2007, had astonishing results: drinking water 30 minutes before a meal reduces calorie intake and the feeling of hunger in older adults, but has little effect on those under 35 years.
