Drinking a bottle of water before a meal facilitates weight loss
Researchers from the University of Birmingham have revealed that drinking 500ml of water before every meal can help people suffering from obesity to lose weight. The results of this study will be published in the September issue of Obesity.
Obesity is a growing public safety concern in America and many other countries. It affects nearly one in three people. Researchers from the University of Birmingham in England may have found a simple solution to help these people lose weight.
The study, which will be published in the September issue of Obesity, indicates that people who drink water before breakfast, lunch and dinner end up losing weight faster than those who don't.
To reach their conclusions, the team of researchers invited 84 obese adults to follow a 12-week program. They all received advice on weight loss such as adapting their lifestyles, improving their diets and engaging in physical activities. They were then separated into two groups.
9.48 pounds down in 12 weeks
The first group was comprised of 41 people who were instructed to drink 500ml of water 30 minutes before their three daily meals every day for 12 weeks. The second, a control group, was comprised of 43 people who were told to imagine having a full stomach before every meal without drinking any water.
The results are clear. The group that drank water before their meals lost an average of 9.48 pounds in 12 weeks, an average of 2.87 pounds more than the control group.
"When combined with brief instructions on how to increase your amount of physical activity and on a healthy diet, this seems to help people to achieve some extra weight loss -- at a moderate and healthy rate. It's something that doesn't take much work to integrate into our busy everyday lives," says Dr. Helen Parretti, the lead author of the study.
The researchers now hope that that the findings will inform further research into the benefits of water preloading before meals and they hope to receive backing for a trial with a larger number of participants and over a longer period of time in order to confirm the findings.
