Water is packed with essential minerals and touts amazing health benefits. For instance, you might know from personal experience that drinking water can lead to clearer skin and help alleviate stomach issues. Staying hydrated can also give you more energy and make you more alert. And now, a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) says that water is the secret ingredient missing from your weight-loss routine.
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You might not need as much water as previously thought.
You won’t find total daily fluid intake regulations on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website. Instead, the agency (and most healthcare providers) look to the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) for guidance. According to the NAS, men should aim to drink 13 cups per day, while women should strive for nine.
However, researchers at the University of California San Francisco have uncovered a “systematic” correlation between water consumption and weight loss. According to their findings, adults only need to drink 6.3 cups of water every day to reap the liquid’s body-slimming benefits.
“For such a ubiquitous and simple intervention, the evidence hasn’t been clear, and the benefits were not well established, so we wanted to take a closer look,” said senior study author Benjamin Breyer, MD, MAS, UCSF Department of Urology chairman, in a press release.
“The amount of rigorous research turned out to be limited, but in some specific areas, there was a statistically significant benefit,” he continued. “To our knowledge, this is the first study assessing the benefits of water consumption on clinical outcomes broadly.”
Here's how water aids in weight loss—and when you need to drink it.
Their approach included analyzing 18 randomized controlled trials, three of which experimented with pre-meal water consumption. In these groups, adults diagnosed as overweight or obese were tasked with drinking 1,500 mL (51 ounces/6.3 cups) of water per day before meals. At the conclusion of the study, they had experienced greater weight loss compared to those who maintained their usual daily water drinking habits (the control group).
From there, researchers gathered that consuming an adequate amount of water before eating could aid with weight loss and decrease the prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults.
UCSF researchers aren’t the first ones to dub water an appetite suppressant. Registered dietitian Elizabeth Huggins, RD, spoke on this theory in an interview with John Hopkins University. She mentioned that "consuming water shortly before eating may help decrease food intake."
Moreover, drinking tons of water can satiate your appetite and send “messages to your brain signaling fullness,” added Melina Jampolis, MD, an internist and board-certified physician nutrition specialist.
"Thirst, which is triggered by mild dehydration, is often mistaken for hunger by the brain," she explained. "You may be able to decrease appetite by drinking water if you are, in fact, low in water not calories."
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There are other benefits—and a risk—of staying hydrated.
Aside from weight loss, the study also found that drinking six to eight cups of water per day can help prevent kidney stones, control diabetes and low blood pressure, reduce your risk of urinary tract infections, and ward off migraines.
That said, it is possible to drink too much water.
“We know that dehydration is detrimental, particularly in someone with a history of kidney stones or urinary infections,” Breyer said in the release. “On the other hand, someone who suffers from frequent urination at times may benefit from drinking less. There isn’t a one size fits all approach for water consumption.”
Speak to your healthcare provider before making any changes to your daily water intake.
