Jenny's Noodle

Photo credit: SFWater.org

Forget buying magic diet pills or finding that one meal plan you can stick to. According to researchers at Virginia Tech, the secret to losing weight is to drink two 8-ounce glasses of water before every meal.

Drinking water has always been part of facilitating weight loss, but there has been surprisingly little scientific information on the topic. This recent study, funded by the Institute for Public Health and Water Research, was the first randomized, controlled clinical trial comparing weight loss among dieters who drink water before meals with those who do not.

Over the course of 12 weeks, dieters who drank water before meals, three times per day, lost about 5 pounds more than dieters who did not increase their water intake.

"The study included 48 adults aged 55-75 years, divided into two groups. One group drank 2 cups of water prior to their meals and the other did not. All of the subjects ate a low-calorie diet during the study. Over the course of 12 weeks, water drinkers lost about 15.5 pounds, while the non-water drinkers lost about 11 pounds."

So pour yourself a couple of glasses of cool water with your next meal - it'll fill you up and help you get back into those skinny jeans.

[via EurekAlert!]