Obesity: Drink till you drop

I'd like to know how much obesity is caused by a structural "finish everything on your plate" problem. By this I mean the tendency of certain folks to finish everything that is served, no matter what their hunger level is. Also, I've heard it said that people who eat from smaller plates will consume fewer calories over time.<p>In the study, the group given water also had their food portions slashed by a substantial amount. What happens if the portions stay the same size? How many people will read or see re-hashed versions of this study in their daily papers or news and simply prefix a large glass of water before their dinners, only to find that it has made no difference?

Me and the significant other have known this for quite a while. Frankly, I'm REALLY surprised that this wasn't an established scientific result.<p>The way it works IMHO is not too obscure - water fills you up and gives you the impression of being 'full' earlier, so you tend to reduce your regular food intake. Feeling 'fuller' equates to being satiated for a lot of people (including me), so the tendency to chow out at random times during the day is highly reduced/eliminated.<p>I used to be 90+ kg in the middle of 2009. Once I decided to drink copious amounts of water during the day, by Jan 2010 I had come to about 60ish kg and lost 4 inches around the waist. My other breakfast/lunch/dinner eating habits remained the same, and the water meant I cut down on snacking between meals.<p>Seriously, isn't there any research showing water fills you up?

I was wondering if it altered the quality of calories taken in. The article mentioned that it wasn't just dropping calories from drinks, since they were counted as part of the allocated amount.<p>On the other hand, if people were eating (for instance) more proteins in place of the simple sugars of fizzy drinks, they would drastically alter how their body was interacting with those 1800 calories.<p>I was disappointed by the apparent attitude in the article that every calorie was equal, regardless of source. I really believe calories are to the nutrition industry what counting lines of code is to software: a number that is just too easy to calculate but absolutely meaningless in measuring anything.

While I completely agree with the gist of the article, Dr Davys counter-argument is terrible:<p>"It is possible that the water displaced sugary drinks in the hydrated group, but this does not explain the weight loss because the calories associated with any fizzy drinks consumed by the other group had to fall within the daily limits."<p>There is such a thing as good calories and bad calories - obviously getting your calories from healthy fats such as olive oil and avacados is going to be a lot more beneficial to your weight in the long run than getting your calories from sugary fizzy drinks such as coca-cola.<p>Still, nice article.

I just started doing this myself a few days ago. I've found that I've bloated up a little bit at first (as water is prone to cause) but at every meal I am feeling 'full' earlier and not eating as much. My body seems to be enjoying it as well. I definitely say give it a try, the most painful outcome being an increased number of trips to the bathroom - the bladder can only hold so much liquid.

The problem with "solutions" like this is that they don't really fix the problem where it lies. Weight gain is attributed to caloric surplus, there's no two ways about it.<p>Drinking water before a meal will help you feel a little fuller and ultimately, eat less. People ignorant to nutrition will begin to use this as a free pass to eating even more poorly.<p>If you really take a step back and look at this, what they are suggesting is filling up with less calorie dense foods (water being the ultimate example), preferably with a high satiety index (here's a list: <a href="http://www.mendosa.com/satiety.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.mendosa.com/satiety.htm</a>).

The advice I read (somewhere, so long ago I don't remember) is that sometimes when you think you're hungry or craving something, you're really thirsty. This has worked well for me for many years, and usually means I don't end up eating anything at all. Too bad it doesn't help with anxiety.

Not sure about the "science" behind this, but this technique has definitely worked for me. I've been drinking ~3 litres of water daily for the last year - and along with other changes in my lifestyle, have lost ~65lbs in that time.<p>If for no other reason, drinking that water reduces my urges for fizzy drinks - which helps a lot. Additionally, as others have said - reducing the amount you eat, in whatever way that works for you, has helped a lot.

Could that be related somehow with people drinking less and less tap water (I live in US, but also seeing this in my home country Bulgaria)?<p>I mean nowadays you have to buy your water most places, you might as well get something "better" for that money, and that won't be water - some some kind of beverage, soft drink, etc.<p>So you would be drinking less, simply because you have to pay (yes, you pay for tap-water too, but that's done as part of all your water usage bill, and it's done at the end of the month usually, and probably way cheaper than bottled water).

It would be interesting if restaurants cut the portion sizes in half, kept the same prices, but used higher quality products and better care in preparing.<p>I guess it's wishful thinking.

I drink upwards of a gallon of water a day, maybe only 3/4 gal in winter. I'm very easily dehydrated. I weigh ~350lbs.<p>Just a reminder that studies may find a typical or probable result. They do not find cause -&#62; effect for everyone.

s/water/beer/g and get the exactly opposite effect. ^_^