Less Calories, More Water

Drinking water with meals has always been a point of discussion in natural health care.  We have learned, and educate others about water and how important it is for health.  We also always have suggested to drink water before meals, not during meals, or an hour or so after meals.  This caveat is realted to protecting digestive enzymes you need to help digest your food.  We also encourage you to chew your food thoroughly, 20-50 times, to liquefy the food and put less stress on digestion.

This tip from 60 Second Science on Scientific American is good considering their focus on mainstream medical methods.

Water Before Meal Means Fewer Calories Consumed



Drinking 16 ounces of water before meals helped a group of dieters lose more weight than other dieters who didn't consume water first.


Americans, and American physicians, are concerned about ballooning waistlines and the accompanying health problems. Now, researchers have presented the first randomized trial of what they hail as a side-effect-free, prescription-free, and simply free appetite control agent. That is, of course, water. Brenda Davy, lead researcher from Virginia Tech, presented the findings at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.


Previous studies showed that middle-aged and older Americans who drank two cups of water before a meal ate about 75 to 90 fewer calories over the course of the meal. For this study, the scientists took 48 adults between 55 and 75. All ate a low-calorie diet for 12 weeks. Half of the group drank 16 ounces of water before meals. The other half didn’t.


After the 12 weeks were over, the water drinkers lost on average 15.5 pounds, while the ones who weren’t prescribed water lost about 11 pounds. Davy says that this phenomenon could occur because water is filling and has, of course, zero calories. It could also be displacing other sweeter drinks that the dieters might consume. It’s not a cure-all, but it’s certainly a cheap and simple addition to any weight-loss plan.


—Cynthia Graber

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