Deborah F. Tate, lead researcher for the study at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, studied 318 overweight adults and grouped them into three. The first one drank only water with their meals, the second had only diet or calorie-free beverages with them, and the third were simply given weight-loss advice without forcing diet changes.
The results after six month, all three groups lost four to five pounds on the average. But those who cut sugary drinks in their diet showed higher percentage of weight loss. In fact, 20 percent of them lost more than five percent of their original weight, compared to only 11 percent from those who just received weight-loss advice.
Tate says, "This is a simple thing you can do consistently each day. It might be a good first step." She further suggests that a five percent weight loss is significant to one's health, because that is already enough to lower one's blood pressure.
Nestle Waters USA sponsored the study.