title: Effect of excessive water intake on body weight, body mass index, body fat, and appetite of overweight female participants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Drinking plenty of water is commonly recommended in weight loss regimens; however, very limited scientific evidence is available to justify this. Here we studied the effect of drinking 1.5 L of water, over and above the usual intake on body weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat, and appetite score in overweight female participants.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was done on 50 overweight female participants, who were instructed to drink 500 mL of water, three times a day 30 min before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The 1.5 L water intake was over and above their daily water intake and was continued for 8 consecutive weeks. Body weight, BMI, body fat, and appetite score was measured pre and post-study; and the values were compared by paired t-test using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 14.0.1.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the parameters tested were lower after 8 weeks: body weight (pre-study 65.86 ± 3.614 kg vs post-study 64.42 ± 3.704 kg; P < 0.01); BMI (pre-study 26.7002 ± 0.9423 vs post-study 26.1224 ± 1.0632; P < 0.01); sum of skinfold thickness (pre-study 79.626 ± 10.385 mm vs post-study 76.578 ± 10.477 mm; P < 0.01); and the appetite score (pre-study 36.880 ± 4.170 vs post-study 34.673 ± 3.845; P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study establishes the role of drinking 1.5 L of excessive water in weight reduction, body fat reduction, and appetite suppression in overweight female participants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Padmashree Dr. Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil Medical College and Hospital, Nerul, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Vinu Ashok Kumar
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Vij
authors.affiliation: Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College and King Edward Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Anjali S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Joshi
keywords: Body mass index; overweight; skinfold thickness; visual analogue scale for appetite; water-induced thermogenesis
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