Drink an extra glass of water a day to beat middle-aged spread
FORGET fad diets and punishing exercise routines – the cure to middle-age spread may literally be on tap.
Scientists at Harvard say that drinking just one extra glass of water a day could be the secret to halting an expanding waistline.
The study found that over a 20-year period, adults in their thirties, forties and fifties gained nearly half a stone less simply by replacing one sugarsweetened drink with a glass of water.
The research, carried out by a team from the Harvard School of Public Health, is one of the most comprehensive investigations into the longterm dietary benefits of drinking water instead of calorieloaded fizzy drinks or fruit juices.
It involved tracking the food and drink consumption of nearly 125,000 people over several decades. The team looked at adults who took part in three long-term studies carried out in the US from the mid-eighties up to 2007. Researchers analysed changes in their eating and drinking habits as well as their weight gain on a regular basis over more than two decades.
The results, published in the International Journal of Obesity, showed that every four years the men and women in the study gained an average of 1.5 kilos – which works out as more than three pounds.
This meant that, over the 20 or so years they were studied, they put on well over a stone as middle age took its toll.
But if they had replaced just one sugary drink with water every day, then they reduced their total weight gain by around five to seven pounds.
An extra two cups a day meant that over the 20 years they gained nearly a stone less than those who chose sugary drinks or even fruit juices.
And the results showed tea and coffee without sugar were almost as good as plain water – as the unsweetened hot
‘Help keep your weight in check’
drinks also had a significant impact on gradual weight gain among thousands of middleaged men and women.
In a report on their findings the scientists said: ‘Substitution of sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juices by water and other drinks was significantly associated with less weight gain over time. These findings support current recommendations to increase consumption of water for the prevention of obesity.’
Catherine Collins, chief dietician at St George’s Hospital, London, said: ‘This is a massive study with very interesting findings.
‘It confirms that low-calorie drinks like water are highly effective when you want to keep your weight in check.’
Previous studies have suggested that sipping water stops people piling on the pounds by curbing their appetite. For example, downing a glass 30 minutes before eating has been shown to reduce calorie intake during a meal.
And scientists at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands found drinking six to eight glasses a day can also reduce the intensity and the duration of severe headaches.