What you drink may add more to weight than what you eat

Washington, April 3 : What you drink may contribute more to weight gain than what you merely eat, according to a study.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, examined the link between beverage consumption among adults and weight change.

They conducted a prospective study of 810 adults, aged between 25-79 years old participating in the PREMIER trial, an 18-month randomised and controlled study.

They found that weight loss was positively associated with a reduction in liquid calorie consumption. Conversely, this kind of intake had a stronger impact on weight than solid calorie intake.

"Both liquid and solid calories were associated with weight change, however, only a reduction in liquid calorie intake was shown to significantly affect weight loss during the six-month follow up," said Benjamin Caballero senior study author and a professor at Bloomberg School.

"A reduction in liquid calorie intake was associated with a weight loss of 0.25 kg at six months and 0.24 kg at 18 months. Among sugar-sweetened beverages, a reduction of one serving was associated with a weight loss of 0.5 kg at six months and 0.7 kg at 18 months," he said, according to a Johns Hopkins release.

Of the seven types of beverages examined, sugar-sweetened beverages were the only beverages significantly associated with weight change," he added.

These findings were published in the Wednesday issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

--IANS