Research into people who are trying to lose weight has shown that drinking a pint of water (tap water is fine) before a meal help to reduce weight. The study, by Elizabeth Dennis and colleagues from Virginia Tech, is published in this month’s issue of Obesity.

Why is this. Well, it might be because your stomach is stretched before you start eating and so your stretch receptors can notify your brain that you are satisfied a bit quicker. Normally this takes about 20 minutes, but it takes quite a while to drink a pint of water, so this may mean the stretch receptors are getting into gear quite a bit before the food comes tumbling in.

While part of this effect may well be a reduction in meal size after drinking water, other mechanisms are conceivable. Previous studies have suggested that water drinking can increase metabolic rate. Also, people drinking water with their meals may be less likely to drink caloric drinks such as fizzy pop or wine or beer or hot chocolate - thereby further reducing caloric intake.

Whatever the mechanism, regularly drinking a pint of water prior to every meal may well be an easy and inexpensive way to help manage your weight.