This is a nice non-commercial article [unless it comes from the bottled- water companies….]

It is really not new and is one of the advice given over many years by “alternative” doctors to patients, but the nice thing is that somebody followed up on it. Maybe one problem can be sometimes the lack  the determination of the patient to continue doing so, but even a temporarily result is already nice.
Reported August 26, 2010

Curb Your Hunger With H2O –Water

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Americans have tried everything in the book to suppress their appetites.  Diet pills, herbs, shakes; you name it we’ve done it.  Researchers may have found the magic potion to help control appetite without a prescription. It’s virtually costless and easy to stomach with only 8 ounces required before meals.  The weight-loss elixir is — drum roll please — water.

“We are presenting results of the first randomized controlled intervention trial demonstrating that increased water consumption is an effective weight loss strategy,” according to Brenda Davy, PhD, senior author on the study. “We found in earlier studies that middle aged and older people who drank two cups of water right before eating a meal ate between 75 and 90 fewer calories during that meal.  In this recent study, we found that over the course of 12 weeks, dieters who drank water before meals, three times per day, lost about 5 pounds more than dieters who did not increase their water intake.”

The study divided 48 adults between the ages of 55-75 years old into two groups.  The first group drank two cups of water prior to their meal.  The subsequent, as you probably guessed, did not.  Over a 12-week period, the group of water drinkers lost around 15.5 pounds, while the non-water drinkers lost closer to 11 pounds.

It’s rather simple: water, which contains zero calories, fills up the stomach.  As a result, people feel fuller thus they eat less calorie-containing food during a meal.  “People should drink more water and less sugary, high-calorie drinks.  It’s a simple way to facilitate weight management,” Dr. Davy was quoted as saying.

So put down those diet pills and herbal remedies that leave your wallet full, because the perfect — most healthy — appetite suppressant is as close as your kitchen sink.

SOURCE: 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society