Ep. 279 - Does Drinking Water Help Weight Loss?

Iron Culture

One of the most common recommendations a personal trainer or dietitian might make to someone embarking on a weight loss journey, is to drink more water. It’s a basic behavioural recommendation, like going on walks, eating more fruit, vegetables and lean protein, adopting a consistent sleep schedule, and engaging in regular exercise; all solid recommendations. Being hydrated is certainly important for health, wellbeing and performance, but is there actually evidence that drinking water will aid weight loss? Tune into this deep dive by Dr Trexler as he breaks it down and explains why drinking more water is great advice, but probably not for the reasons you think.

00:00 Please send us your sugar-alcohol protein bars

08:29 A segue to the topic: some alternatives to sugar-alcohols and what do if you catch Trexler eating a bunch of protein bars

MASS Research Review https://massresearchreview.com/

14:21 The throwaway line: drink water to lose weight

Chen 2024 Water Intake and Adiposity Outcomes among Overweight and Obese Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38612997/

Khil 2024 Water intake and obesity: By amount, timing, and perceived temperature of drinking water https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38662725/

35:07 Trexler’s biggest takeaways from the article

42:50 Tying it together with some Iron Culture lore

50:26 How much water do you actually need to drink?

Yamada 2022 Variation in human water turnover associated with environmental and lifestyle factors https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36423296/

1:03:15 Meal pre-loading?

Parretti 2015 Efficacy of water preloading before main meals as a strategy for weight loss in primary care patients with obesity: RCT https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26237305/

Van Walleghen 2007 Pre-meal water consumption reduces meal energy intake in older but not younger subjects https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17228036/

1:07:38 Closing out