Can drinking water before meals help you lose a little weight?
Effect of 'water induced thermogenesis' on body weight, body mass index and body composition of overweight subjects.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
This study looked at whether drinking extra water before eating helps overweight young women lose a bit of weight and fat.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
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Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
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Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
This study looked at whether drinking extra water before eating helps overweight young women lose a bit of weight and fat.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 532 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
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Claims (5)
This study only looked at young women — so we can’t say if drinking more water helps men, older people, or those who are severely obese.
When young women who are overweight drink an extra six glasses of water a day before meals for two months, they tend to lose a little weight, their BMI goes down a bit, and their body fat measurements slightly improve.
Drinking a large glass of water before each meal for two months is linked to a small but measurable drop in body fat measurements at the arm, belly, and thigh in overweight young women.
Overweight young women who drink more water for two months tend to have a slightly lower BMI, even if they didn’t change what they ate.
Even though the study says water makes your body burn more calories, it didn’t actually measure whether that happened — so that part of the claim is just guessing.