Negative, Null and Beneficial Effects of Drinking Water on Energy Intake, Energy Expenditure, Fat Oxidation and Weight Change in Randomized Trials: A Qualitative Review.

Jodi Stookey

doi:10.3390/nu8010019

Abstract

Drinking water has heterogeneous effects on energy intake (EI), energy expenditure (EE), fat oxidation (FO) and weight change in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving adults and/or children. The aim of this qualitative review of RCTs was to identify conditions associated with negative, null and beneficial effects of drinking water on EI, EE, FO and weight, to generate hypotheses about ways to optimize drinking water interventions for weight management. RCT conditions that are associated with negative or null effects of drinking water on EI, EE and/or FO in the short term are associated with negative or null effects on weight over the longer term. RCT conditions that are associated with lower EI, increased EE and/or increased FO in the short term are associated with less weight gain or greater weight loss over time. Drinking water instead of caloric beverages decreases EI when food intake is ad libitum. Drinking water increases EE in metabolically-inflexible, obese individuals. Drinking water increases FO when blood carbohydrate and/or insulin concentrations are not elevated and when it is consumed instead of caloric beverages or in volumes that alter hydration status. Further research is needed to confirm the observed associations and to determine if/what specific conditions optimize drinking water interventions for weight management.

Highlights

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), USDA, American Medical Association, American Diabetes Association, AmericanHeart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend drinking water, either instead of other beverages or in greater volume, for weight management
The literature search identified one randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that reports that 0.5 L plain drinking water results in higher energy expenditure than the same volume (0.5 L) of saline or 50 mL plain water in overweight or obese participants, who are fasting and sitting at rest [37]
Drinking water has no effect on fat oxidation in RCTs that compare drinking water with the same volume of carbohydrate solutions, sports drinks and milk in young, normal weight, trained athletes, during high-intensity exercise

Summary

Introduction

Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend drinking water, either instead of other beverages or in greater volume, for weight management (see Table 1). Public health initiatives in the U.S, U.K., Australia, France, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Poland, Mexico, Israel and Taiwan are actively promoting drinking water for weight management [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. Consumers of drinking water differ from non-consumers with respect to several key obesity risk factors, including other beverage intake, diet composition, physical activity, stress and smoking [20]. While some propose that promoting the single behavior of drinking water instead of other beverages may be effective against obesity (e.g., [21,22]), others suggest that a single-component intervention approach may be too simplistic [23].

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