Everywhere you read that water helps with weight loss in many ways. It’s supposed to suppress your appetite, flush out whatever and keep you hydrated. While the hydrated part is true – and a good thing, the others are kind of spotty. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence where people say it helps them, but is it really true?
Two studies came out recently that put those theories to the test.
One study had participants drinking increasing amounts of water prior to eating at a lunch buffet to see if the water had any effect. Turns out not so much – at least for overweight individuals. Result
increasing water intake throughout the morning only suppressed energy intake in individuals categorized as normal weight under certain circumstances, and had no effect on individuals categorized as overweight/obese.
The second study relied on self-reporting, which isn’t the most accurate. This was reporting on how much water a person consumed in a day versus the number of calories eaten. Result:
the water and the no-water days did not differ in 24-h energy intake, or the amount and energy from reported foods (P?>?0.05). Energy density of foods, servings of fruits or vegetables and eating patterns did not differ between the water and the no-water day in both men and women
For me, drinking water never really keeps me from eating. You hear “You aren’t really hungry, you’re thirsty, so drink water”. I find that if I’m hungry and I drink water, 10 minutes later I am hungry again and then I have to pee LOL. Now, I do find that if I drink water *after* my meal, I will feel fuller for longer. I don’t necessarily make a conscious effort to drink 8 glasses a day, but I do drink pretty much only water or seltzer when I’m not having coffee.
How about you? Do you find any benefits from drinking 8 glasses of water a day? Or do you try to drink 8 glasses a day?
When i was trying to lose weight Lori i did up my water intake.. Maybe it was the psychological effects that made me feel it helped me lose weight. I had more water because i was trying to be healthier and maybe that spilled over to my diet and watching what i was eating.. you know just the whole package.. No i didn’t feel that it made me feel fuller either.. Hugs! deb
I agree that it has a psychological effect and once you start the healthy snowball, it just keeps going.
I drink a lot of water now, and I did when I was trying to lose weight. It helped me feel fuller in between lunch and dinner when I was trying not to cave into snacks. Now I just drink it because I am thirsty thanks to sweating so much (hello Texas summer).
Is it ever not summer there? 🙂
Usually February and March are winter-like. The rest of the months, it’s summer. 🙁
I’m the same way. I try and drink water first, but it doesn’t really change my appetite!
Hi, Lori, I don’t think drinking water helps much w/ weight loss but I DO think it helps w/ not gaining weight…at least for me. I need to drink a lot of water to keep from being constipated even though I eat a high fiber diet. Mary in cincinnati
Yes, water does help with that! 🙂
I’m actually having trouble drinking enough water this summer, even though its been hot. I get busy and even though I’m thirsty I don’t want to look for my water. Kind of stupid, now that I’ve written it out. I don’t think it helps with weight loss, but I do think its healthy to drink enough water.
I saw those reports as well, Lori, and thought they were very interesting. For myself, when I was losing the weight, I think it was mostly a psychological benefit. When I got snacky or got a craving, I would drink some water, and I think its biggest benefit was that it distracted me for the few minutes I needed to move past the craving. If I was still hungry after the water and it failed to distract me, I figured it was true hunger and I would eat something. Our brains are funny things, aren’t they?