An interesting study was recently conducted by the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. It involved a total of 84 obese adult volunteers who were recruited for a weight loss study. Everyone involved in the study was educated on healthy lifestyle changes, improved diet choices, and the benefits of exercise.
Next, researchers chose two groups. One group of 41 people drank 16 ounces of water a half hour before meals. Note that this study allowed only water, not sweetened drinks, carbonated drinks, or sparkling water before meals. The other group of 43 participants was instructed to imagine they were full before eating. In essence, a type of mental imagery exercise. Neither group was informed that the study was about water loading before meals.
The researchers made sure there was proper adherence to water loading based on providing 24 hour urine collections at the beginning of the study, at 6 weeks, and at the end of the 12 week study. They also completed a phone questionnaire at weeks 2, 3, 6 and 9 in regards to their water loading before meals.
The results were impressive. The group that was involved in pre-meal water loading had an average weight loss of 5.28 pounds as compared to the control group which lost 2.64 pounds. As well, 27% of the participants lost at least five percent of their body weight compared to only 5% participants in the control group. No adverse reactions were reported in the study.
Contact the Stengler Center for Integrative Medicine to schedule for a visit to help with your weight loss goals. Call us at 760-274-2377.
