The appetite suppressant available on tap

Appetite suppressants can be costly. They can also be dangerous. Do I even need to remind you about ephedra?

During ephedra’s heyday, desperate dieters experienced adverse side effects such as stroke, heart attack and in some cases, even death. Unfortunately hypertension is a common effect of many diet suppressants.

Other side effects common for appetite suppressants include dry mouth which can lead to increased risk of tooth decay and gum disease (now linked to esophageal cancer), and psychological or physical dependence.

There’s got to be a better way, right? And there is…

It’s water. Plain water that can come directly from your tap, office cooler, a drinking fountain or even the bottled variety — can reduce your total daily calorie intake. It can also help you cut down on your consumption of saturated fat, sugar, sodium and cholesterol.

You already drink water? Well, good — you’re on the right path. Now just increase the amount you drink by one percent. That little bit can make a big difference, as results of a study involving more than 18,300 U.S. adults has shown.

People who increased their consumption of water by one, two or three cups daily decreased their total energy intake by 68 to 205 calories daily and their sodium intake by 78 to 235 grams, according to a paper by University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Ruopeng An. They also consumed 5 grams to nearly 18 grams less sugar and decreased their cholesterol consumption by 7 to 21 grams daily.

But most exciting is that the one percent increase in daily consumption of plain water was associated with an 8.6-calorie decrease in daily energy intake. Those who drank a little more water also saw slight reductions in their intake of sugar-sweetened beverages.

That additional water also helped curb appetites. Study participants saw a decrease in the amount of discretionary foods they’d been eating, along with their consumption of fat, sugar, sodium and cholesterol. Who would have thought a little extra water could do all that?

More good news is that you can include your coffee and tea in those water calculations (just don’t undo the goodness of water with too much cream and sugar). In the study, Professor An’s calculations included the water content found in beverages such as unsweetened black tea, herbal tea and coffee.