In the past we thought drinking water before meals helped reduce dietary intake, and as a positive consequence, lose weight.  A good thing.  But then science suggested it wasn’t so.  Well, here’s the flip flop: now researchers from Virginia Tech performed a study of 48 adults, and those who drank 2 cups of water before meals lost 4.5 pounds of weight more than the group who didn’t.  While the sample size was small, it is suggestive that pre-meal water consumption might reduce caloric intake.  Give it about 15 or so minutes to kick in.