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Beverage
Consumption a Bigger Factor in Weight
Newswise — When it comes to weight loss,
what you drink may be more important than
what you eat, according to researchers at
the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health.
Researchers
examined the relationship between beverage
consumption among adults and weight change
and found that weight loss was positively
associated with a reduction in liquid
calorie consumption and liquid calorie
intake had a stronger impact on weight than
solid calorie intake.
The results are published in the April 1,
2009, issue of the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition.
“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 6-month follow up,” said Benjamin
Caballero MD, PhD, senior author of the
study and a professor with the Bloomberg
School’s Department of International Health.
“A reduction in liquid calorie intake was
associated with a weight loss of 0.25 kg at
6 months and 0.24 kg at 18 months.
Among
sugar-sweetened beverages, a reduction of 1
serving was associated with a weight loss of
0.5 kg at 6 months and 0.7 kg at 18 months.
Of the seven types of beverages examined,
sugar-sweetened beverages were the only
beverages significantly associated with
weight change.”
Researchers conducted a prospective study of
810 adults aged 25-79 years old
participating in the PREMIER trial, an
18-month randomized, controlled, behavioral
intervention.
Caballero along with colleagues from the
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood institute;
Duke University; the Pennington Biomedical
Research Center; the Kaiser Permanente
Center for Health Research; the University
of Alabama; and Pennsylvania State
University measured participant’s weight and
height using a calibrated scale and a
wall-mounted stadiometer at both 6 and 18
months.
Dietary
intake was measured by conducting
unannounced 24-hour dietary recall
interviews by telephone.
Researchers divided beverages into several
categories based on calorie content and
nutritional composition: sugar-sweetened
beverages (regular soft drinks, fruit
drinks, fruit punch, or high-calorie
beverages sweetened with sugar), diet drinks
(diet soda and other “diet” drinks sweetened
with artificial sweeteners), milk (whole
milk, 2 percent reduced-fat milk, 1 percent
low-fat milk, and skim milk), 100 percent
juice (100 percent fruit and vegetable
juice), coffee and tea with sugar, coffee
and tea without sugar and alcoholic
beverages.
They found that at 37 percent
sugar-sweetened beverages were the leading
source of liquid calories.
Consumption of liquid calories from
beverages has increased in parallel with the
obesity epidemic.
Earlier studies by Bloomberg School
researchers project that 75 percent of U.S.
adults could be overweight or obese by 2015
and have linked the consumption of
sugar-sweetened beverages to the obesity
epidemic, which affects two-thirds of adults
and increases the risk for adverse health
conditions such as type 2 diabetes.
Researchers recommend limited liquid calorie
intake among adults and to reduce
sugar-sweetened beverage consumption as a
means to accomplish weight loss or avoid
excess weight gain.
“Among beverages, sugar-sweetened beverages
was the only beverage type significantly
associated with weight change at both the 6-
and 18-month follow up periods,” said Liwei
Chen, MD, PhD, MHS, lead author of the study
and a Bloomberg School graduate.
“Changes in the consumption of diet drinks
and alcoholic beverages were inversely
associated with weight loss, but were not
statistically significant.
"Our
study supports policy recommendations and
public health efforts to reduce intakes of
liquid calories, particularly from
sugar-sweetened beverages, in the general
population.”
“Reduction in Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened
Beverages is Associated with Weight Loss:
The PREMIER Trial” was written by Liwei
Chen, Lawrence J. Appel, Catherine Loria,
Pao-Hwa Lin, Catherine M. Champagne,
Patricia J. Elmer, Jamy D. Ard, Diane
Mitchell, Bryan C. Batch, Laura P. Svetkey
and Benjamin Caballero.
The research was supported by the National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; National
Institutes of Health; the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center
for Human Nutrition; and the Eunice Kennedy
Shriver National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development.
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