Exciting news for those of you trying to reduce your waistlines…

Obesity is a prevalent public health problem associated with a number of severe health effects and those over 40 are at increased risk of being overweight. This risk may be due to a decrease in energy expenditure, reduced energy requirements, or an increased susceptibility to excess energy consumption in this stage of life. Increasing daily water consumption is widely recognized as a weight loss strategy, yet there is actually little data to support this. From studies that are available, it has been shown that:

1. Energy intake (EI) is significantly lower in water drinkers than non-water drinkers (1),
2. substituting water for energy-containing beverages decreases self-reported EI (2)
3. increasing self-reported daily water consumption by 1 litre or more in overweight women is associated with increased weight loss (3), and
4. water consumption with a meal reduces ratings of hunger and increases ratings of satiety (4,5).

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that pre-meal water consumption would lead to greater weight loss in older overweight and obese individuals consuming a hypocaloric diet. The secondary objective was to determine if water intake before a meal to reduce meal EI is sustained after a 12-week period of increased water consumption in older overweight and obese adults.

• Both groups (with and without water prior to eating) experienced significant weight loss but a greater decline in weight (44% greater) was found for the water group.
• The decline in total fat mass was greater for the water group.
• Mean daily EI, energy and ED (energy density) from food, and beverage ED declined similarly in both groups.
• Total dietary ED from food and beverage declined more in the water group as compared to the non-water group.
• The water group participants demonstrated greater increases in water and total fluid consumption than the non-water group participants.
• There were no differences between groups for all other outcome measures.
• No gender differences were found for measures in the groups.