Research paper
Dennis EA, Dengo AL, Comber DL, Flack KD, Savla J, Davy KP, Davy BM. Water consumption increases weight loss during a hypocaloric diet intervention in middle-aged and older adults. Obesity. 2010 Feb;18(2):300-307. doi:10.1038/oby.2009.235. PMID: 19661958. PMCID: PMC2859815.
Why we cite it
The authors report theirs is, ”To our knowledge”, the first randomized controlled trial investigating the influence of increased water consumption on weight loss, in 48 overweight middle-aged and older adults. Provides experimental evidence that 500 ml water before each main meal enhances weight loss when combined with a hypocaloric diet in middle-aged and older adults. The authors say their findings ”provide an evidence-basis for this strategy among middle-aged and older adults”, the strategy being the common advice to drink more water to lose weight. Referenced by 1 knowledge file (kwa01, 3 anchors, recounted 2026-09-10 by the Librarian: two bullets name `cwa02` alone and one names it with `cwa03`) and 4 live companion pages (172, 358, 408, 478), each in a list line naming the paper (measured 2026-09-10). (Corrected 2026-09-10: the priority claim dropped ”To our knowledge” and said premeal where the paper says increased; ”the primary evidence base for the widely recommended ‘drink water before meals’ strategy” was an unsurveyable ranking; the reach read ”3 references” and ”1 direct citation, 3 further-reading references”.)