Doesn’t it make you just go “hmm” when scientists waste time and money studying something you already know to be true or just makes common sense? That happened again last week when the Sun Sentinel reported the results of a study done by researchers at Virginia Tech that concluded that people who drank water before meals ate less during the meal and so lost more weight than other dieters. The lead author of the study said that water probably makes people feel fuller before they eat, limiting food intake.
Huh? We already know water as nature’s appetite suppressant. It contains no calories, fat or cholesterol; is low in sodium; and helps the body to metabolize fat. Other, more meaningful research shows that high water intake reduces the amount of fat deposits in the body.
Water is plentiful, available and cheap and the good news is that it’s as close and convenient as your kitchen sink … or your water-and-ice-in-the-door refrigerator. And, when it comes to long term weight loss and health, the quality of water is just as important as the quantity.
Customers of the City of Boynton Beach water utility enjoy some of the highest quality water in the state of Florida. Last September, the Sun Sentinel ran an article in which it stated Florida is among the 10 worst states for tap water. The article went on to cite high levels of mineral barium and other pollutants, including radium-226, in tap water.
In 1996, the federal government re-enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), which sets the minimum quality standards for municipal drinking water throughout the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the responsibility to set the minimum standards on a national level. Boynton Beach water regularly exceeds those standards in quality and purity. And if you thought bottled water is better, despite the millions of dollars spent annually for advertising by bottled way companies, bottled water, used for drinking for the most part, is considered a food product in this country and is subject to the regulations guiding food stuffs. These regulations are not as stringent as the SDWA requirements for drinking water.
So while you didn’t need a study to tell you what you already knew about the role of water in your diet program, it was good to be reminded about the quality of water we enjoy in Boynton Beach. A dieting tip: For best results on the scale, don’t drink water before your weigh-in. Just a cup of water translates into an extra pound of temporary weight.
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