To lose weight drink water before meals

BOSTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Drinking two 8-ounce glasses of water before meals helps those losing weight to lose even more, U.S. researchers say.

Brenda Davy of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., says it has long been suggested that water can help promote weight loss, but there has been little scientific information confirming the notion.

The study involved 48 adults ages 55-75 years, divided into one group that drank two glasses of water prior to meals and one that did not. All of the subjects ate a low-calorie diet during the study.

After the 12-week study, water drinkers lost about 15.5 pounds, while the non-water drinkers lost about 11 pounds.

"We are presenting results of the first randomized-controlled intervention trial demonstrating that increased water consumption is an effective weight loss strategy," Davy says in a statement. "In this 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."

The findings were presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.