From special diets to special diet pills and drills at the gym, the quest to lose weight has ballooned into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Now scientists are reporting weight-loss success with an elixir that costs next to nothing: ordinary tap water.
“It’s volume without calories, ” said clinical dietitian Lisa Cimperman.
A new study from Virginia Tech had 48 people eat low-calorie diets for about three months. They all lost at least 11 pounds.
Half of the participants also drank two cups of water before their meals and lost an additional 5 pounds.
Experts say water could be an effective weight-loss tool for several reasons: It’s zero calories and may replace high-calorie sugary drinks like sodas.
It could also be that water makes people feel fuller, causing them to eat less.
Clinical dietitians say a lot of people eat when they’re actually thirsty.
“You may find that once you drink the water, you really weren’t as hungry as you thought you were,” according to Cimperman.
Whatever the reason for the weight loss, it doesn’t seem like there is anything magical about water that might cause a person to shed pounds, but pair it with a healthy diet and exercise and experts say water could be a good weight loss strategy.
“And it’s one that has absolutely no side-effects, so there’s no harm in people drinking two cups of water before meals,” said Cimperman.
No harm, but perhaps hope for an easier way to tap into weight-loss success.
The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.
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