Controlling body weight is an important step to have physical health. However, it is not always easy to control energy intake and maintain high diet quality in daily life.
In a recent study, researchers find that drinking plain water may help people consume less sugar, sodium and saturated fat. The finding is published in Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.
Researchers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign conducted the study. A national representative sample of 18,311 adults were used. These data were collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during 2005-2012 in the USA.
Researchers recorded the daily diet and plain water consumption in these people and their eating habits and taste preferences.
They found that 1% increase in the proportion of daily plain water in total dietary water consumption was related to a reduction in total daily energy intake of 8.58 kcal, energy intake from sugar-sweetened beverages of 1.43 kcal, total fat intake of 0.21 g, saturated fat intake of 0.07g, sugar intake of 0.74 g, sodium intake of 9.80 mg and cholesterol intake of 0.88 g.
Although the influences of plain water intake on daily diet were similar across race, education, income level and body weight status, the effects were larger in men than in women, and larger in young/middle-aged adults than in older adults.
Researchers suggest that drinking more plain water can help control body weight and improve diet quality. This should be used as a useful public health strategy for reducing energy intake and prevention overweight as well as obesity.
Citation: An R, McCaffrey J. (2016). Plain water consumption in relation to energy intake and diet quality among US adults, 2005-2012. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, published online. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12368.
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