When it comes to weight loss, what we drink may be more important than what we eat. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who examined the relationship between beverage consumption among adults and weight change, found that weight loss was positively associated with a reduction in liquid calories. They further concluded that calories from beverages had a stronger impact on weight than calories from food.

Experimenting with several categories of beverages, based both on calorie content and nutrition, they discerned that sugar-sweetened beverages were the leading source of liquid calories contributing to unwanted weight gain. These are the same beverages reported to play a significant role in the obesity epidemic currently affecting two-thirds of American adults.