Could WATER be the key to slimming?

Drinking 500ml of water - around a pint - before eating may help obese adults to lose weight, a study found.

The UK researchers say the simple intervention could be 'hugely beneficial', and could easily be promoted by doctors and other health professionals.

As part of the study, the researchers recruited 84 obese adults from general practices and monitored them for 12 weeks.

Each adult was given a weight management consultation, where they were advised on how to adapt their lifestyle and diet and improve their levels of physical activity.

They were then split into two groups, with 41 of the men recruited told to drink water half an hour before a meal, and 43 asked to imagine that they had a full stomach before eating.

Only tap water was permitted, with sparkling water, fizzy drinks or sweetened drinks banned in the study.

Those in the group who were instructed to ‘preload’ with water lost, on average, 2.87lbs (1.3kg) more than those told to imagine they were full.

And those who drank half a litre of water before every meal, lost more weight than those who preloaded with water less often.

They lost 9.48lbs (4.3kg) over the 12 weeks, whereas those who only preloaded once, or not at all, only lost an average of 1.76lbs (0.8kg).

Dr Helen Parretti, of the University of Birmingham, explained: ‘The beauty of these findings is in the simplicity. 

'Just drinking a pint of water, three times a day, before your main meals may help reduce your weight.

‘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.' 

Dr Parretti concluded: ‘Losing a few extra pounds over the course of a year can be significant to an individual, and this could be an easy way to help with that weight loss.

‘It’s a simple message that has the potential to make a real contribution to public health.’

The study was published in the journal Obesity. 

The team now hope the findings will inform further research into the benefits of drinking water before meals.

They hope to receive backing for a trial with a larger number of people and over a longer period of time in order to confirm the findings.

(dailymail.co.uk)