MILAN – After the Easter eating marathon, water can prove to be a valid ally in getting back your target weight as summer approaches. An effect described by science in various studies, the last of which indicates that drinking 1 to 3 glasses daily could help eliminate 68 to 205 calories per day, as well as decreasing consumption of sodium, sugar and saturated fats.
Research by the University of Illinois
The study, published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, was conducted by the University of Illinois, investigating the eating habits of 18,300 Americans. Participants were invited to report everything they had had to eat or drink over 2 days and for each one of them the quantity of water drunk daily was calculated. The average caloric intake was 2,157 calories, approximately 125 of which originating from sugary drinks and 432 from low nutritional impact foods such as desserts and snacks. It showed that an increase of 1% in the daily consumption of water was associated to a decrease of 8.6% of the overall energy intake. This increase, moreover, led to a fall of 5 to 18 grams of sugar intake, 7 to 21g of saturated fats and 78 to 235g of sodium.
The value of water
And although the Italian diet is not the same as the American diet, the benefits of correct hydration have no citizenship: “International scientific literature makes the role of water evident in activating a series of metabolic mechanisms known as thermogenesis, that is to say, the production of heat with expenditure of energy, which really help us lose weight - specifies Nicola Sorrentino, lecturer in Nutritional Hygiene at the University of Pavia and expert of the Osservatorio Sanpellegrino observatory. Another very important aspect is that the effect of water on metabolism is short-lived, half an hour to an hour. That is why it is not only important to drink, but to do it often throughout the day, without getting to the point of feeling thirsty”.
More than 10 years of studies
This matter has been under investigation by science for some time. In 2003 - a note by the Osservatorio Sanpellegrino observatory recalls - the 'Water-induced thermogenesis' study, conducted in Germany and published in the 'Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism', did in fact assess the effect of water on metabolic rate, i.e. on the number of calories burnt by our organism every day. Researchers discovered that drinking 2 glasses of water daily (half a litre) at room temperature (22 degrees C) increased the metabolic rate by 30% both in men and women involved in the investigation. The effect began 10 minutes after drinking and reached its peak 30-40 minutes later.
by Salvatore Galeone
