YOUR Better Health Update: WATER - The Best Ingredient for a Diet

There are many weird and wonderful diets that all claim to promote weight loss. Very few fad diets, however, deliver lasting weight loss or ensure good health. One weight loss aid that most of us wouldn’t think of is plain water. Plain water (in this study) was defined as water out of a tap, water fountain or from a bottle. How plain water may affect food intake have not been well studied, but it’s thought consuming water before a meal may help promote feelings of fullness.

Researchers looked at the effect of water on food consumption in 18,000 adults. They found that for every one percent increase in plain water consumption, daily energy intake fell by about 36 kilojoules. Accompanying this energy fall was a fall in daily consumption of sugar, salt, saturated fat and cholesterol. On average, participants in the study were drinking around one litre of plain water each day.

This study suggests that consuming plain water could aid in lowering the amount of kilojoules consumed. It’s important to note that this research found an association between water drinking and food intake so does not confirm that drinking water will always lead to fewer kilojoules consumed. Nevertheless, drinking plain water is important for various aspects of our health and could also replace the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, which are notoriously bad for health and promote weight gain.