Clinical Trial of Older People Confirms Success of
Simple, Cheap Appetite Control Method
Over 12 weeks, they lost about 15.5 pounds, while
others lost about 11 pounds.
Drinking more water before meals can help
promote weight loss.
Aug. 23, 2010 – Senior citizens in a clinical trial
ate as much as 90 calories less per meal after consuming an
appetite-control agent that requires no prescription, has no common side
effects and costs almost nothing.
Scientists today reported results of a new clinical
trial confirming that just two 8-ounce glasses of the stuff, taken
before meals, enables people to shed pounds.
The weight-loss elixir, they told the 240th
National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), is ordinary
water.
"We are presenting results of the first randomized
controlled intervention trial demonstrating that increased water
consumption is an effective weight loss strategy," said Brenda Davy,
Ph.D., senior author on the study.
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"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."
"People should drink more water and less sugary,
high-calorie drinks. It's a simple way to facilitate weight management."
Davy 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. Previous studies hinted that drinking water before meals reduces
intake of calories. Lacking until now, however, has been the
"gold-standard" evidence from a randomized, controlled clinical trial
that compares weight loss among dieters who drink water before meals
with those who do not.
The study included 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.
Davy said water may be so effective simply because
it fills up the stomach with a substance that has zero calories. People
feel fuller as a result, 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, who is with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
Diet soda pop and other beverages with artificial
sweeteners may also help people reduce their calorie intake and lose
weight, Davy said. However, she advised against using beverages
sweetened with sugar and high-fructose corn syrup because they are high
in calories. A 12-ounce can of regular soda pop, for instance, contains
about 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Davy noted that that nobody knows exactly how much
water people should drink daily. The Institute of Medicine, an agency of
The National Academies, which advises the Federal Government on science,
says that most healthy people can simply let thirst be their guide. It
does not specify exact requirements for water, but set general
recommendations for women at about 9 cups of fluids — from all beverages
including water — each day, and men at about 13 cups of fluids.
And it is possible to drink too much water, a
situation that can lead to a rare, but serious, condition known as water
intoxication, Davy pointed out.
The Institute for Public Health and Water Research,
a non -profit, independent science and education organization whose
mission is to improve public health through the consumption of quality
drinking water, funded the study.
The American Chemical Society is a non-profit
organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000
members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global
leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its
multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences.
Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
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