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# Wanna Lose Weight? Try Drinking More H20
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/wanna_lose_weight_try_drinking_more_h20_082320100332/
- Published: 2010-08-23T16:28:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-20T15:45:27.000Z
- Description: In a 12-week study of overweight adults aged 55 to 75 on a low-fat, low-calorie diet, those told to drink two cups of water before each meal lost 15.5 pounds on average against 11 pounds. Brenda Davy's team found the tactic does not work for 18- to 35-year-olds.
- Author: Rachel Stockton
- Tags: Obesity, Avoiding Illness, Weight Loss, #vivvo-import

For middle aged and older adults, losing weight may be as easy as drinking more water before meals.

Brenda Davy, associate professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginia Tech led a team of researchers who discovered that drinking two cups of water before meals can boost weight loss by 30%.

Study Details

For the study, Davy and her team divided up a group of participants aged 55-75 who were either overweight or obese. Both groups were told to go on a low fat, low calorie diet. One group was told to drink two cups of water before each meal, while the other group was given no such directive.

After 12 weeks, the average number of pounds lost in the water drinking group was 15.5 pounds; the other group lost, on average, 11 pounds.

Prior to the study, Davy had wondered if the water drinkers would “compensate” by eating more during the day than the other group; it turns out, they didn’t.

Interestingly, although drinking more water can facilitate more weight loss in older people, the same strategy doesn’t work in those in the 18-35 age range. The reason for this discrepancy? In older people, it takes more time for the stomach to empty, providing a longer period of satiety than in younger adults.

More H2O Facts

And there’s more good news with regards to weight loss and water consumption. Barry Popkin, director of the North Carolina Nutrition Obesity Research Center tells BusinessWeek that his research shows that people who drink more water every day conversely consume fewer sugary drinks than those who drink less. Popkin emphasizes that this is significant because the average American drinks 300 more calories a day in sugary drinks compared to thirty years ago.

And, there’s also an advantage to drinking COLD water, as opposed to regular tap water. According to www.tesh.com, drinking a glass of cold water can increase metabolism by up to 40% over the course of one hour.