Drinking hot liquid before eating to lose weight sounds like some fad-diet gimmick, but it's not. While calories still count, a low-calorie, low-fat liquid, consumed before a meal, can help you control your intake and avoid overeating. With a little information, you can choose what liquid, be it water, tea, or soup, works best for you.
Misconceptions
Some people believe that dieters should only drink cold water; the theory is that because the body must expend calories to warm the water to 98.6 degrees, cold water thus promotes weight loss. While warming up cold water does burn calories, it isn't enough to count. Warming 8 fl. oz. to body temperature burns exactly 4 calories -- the same number of calories in half a stick of gum -- according to Roger Clemens, associate director of regulatory science at USC's School of Pharmacy, quoted by Chow.com.
Significance of Hydration
One way that drinking hot liquid before eating can help you lose weight is by giving your body the water it needs. When you are slightly dehydrated, you body tries to hold onto water and your kidneys pull moisture out of your urine; that keeps weight you should be losing when you use the restroom inside your body, according to Andrea Wenger Hess, a nutritionist quoted by the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Benefits of Hot Soup
Eating a low-calorie, low fat soup before having a meal is an effective way to prevent overeating; these foods provide an extra course, help you feel satisfied, and help you eat less, reports Barbara Rolls, a professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University, quoted by USA Today. Another advantage of eating a low-calorie soup before your main dish is that the stomach takes 20 minutes to recognize it's full, according to Andrea Wenger Hess. Soup makes your meal take longer, thus giving your body more time to tell you you've had enough.
Considerations
When choosing your liquid, make sure you choose something low in calories, such as hot water with lemon, hot tea with only a little sweetener, or low-calorie soup. Some hot liquids, such as coffee-based beverages, have far more calories than you think. For example, an apple-flavored tea available at a popular coffee chain contains 160 calories, while a large latte from the same chain has 170, according to the Fat Secret nutrition information database.
Warning
Keeping tabs on your calories is good, and vital for weight-loss success, but don't replace too many food calories with liquid. Though it seems counter-intuitive, eating too little is bad for your diet. If you don't eat at least 1,200 calories a day, your body goes into starvation mode, slowing your metabolism and thus slowing your weight loss, according to the Mayo Clinic website. Instead, choose healthy meals made from whole fruits, whole vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains.
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