Replacing one beer a day — or one serving of a sugar-sweetened soft drink — with a glass of water could reduce the risk of becoming obese by 20%, research presented at the European Congress on Obesity shows.
Obesity’s main cause is energy imbalance due to inactive lifestyle, epigenetic factors and excessive caloric intake through food and beverages. A high consumption of beverages with many calories, such as alcoholic or sweetened drinks, is a key contributor to weight gain.
In this study, the authors examined the impact of substituting one sugar-sweetened soft drink or beer with one serving of water each day on the incidence of obesity and weight using data from the SUN Cohort (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) — a study tracking the health of Spanish university graduates since 1999.
The researchers followed 15,765 adults who were not obese at the start of the study for an average of 8.5 years. The intake of 17 beverages* was assessed at the beginning of the study using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Information on weight was updated every 2 years.
During follow-up, 873 participants became obese. Mathematical modelling showed that, drinking a glass of water instead of a beer every day reduced the risk of obesity by 20%, whilst replacing a sugar-sweetened soft drink with water was associated with a 15% lower risk of developing obesity, after adjusting for confounding factors including age, sex, physical activity, family history of obesity, and eating snacks between meals.
Those who substituted water for beer also saw a slight reduction in average weight of 0.3kg over 4 years. However, the researchers found no difference in obesity risk when replacing any of the other 15 beverages – including wine and spirits — with water.