Weight loss can be trying and difficult. It is probably not a dieter around that doesn't wish that it was just as easy to lose weight as it was to put it own. Unfortunately the reality for most is that this is not the case. The fact is that weight loss requires a formation of a solid plan and dedication to follow it through, things that many dieters do not do.

To aide dieters in their losing weight, many manufactures target dieters by promising you that their product will make weight loss a simple and effortless process. Even though the product may have some benefit, they are not the magic bullets that marketers make them out to be. If they were, everyone would flock to them and losing inches around your waist would be as simple as sliding on a sock.

Yet, even though it is not high tech, there is one simple practice that you can start doing right now to lose more weight, and that is to start drinking more water. This simple nutrient is typically overlooked when it comes to weight loss. This is probably because advertisers and manufacturers can't make money by marketing water as a weight loss supplement.

Regardless of whether or not marketers can make a buck off of it, research supports that water is an effective aid for losing weight. In one study performed in Berlin, the researchers showed that in normal-weight adults, drinking 500 ml of water (~16 ounces) resulted in a 30 percent increase in their metabolic rate that was sustained for more than an hour.

The researchers found that the increase in their metabolic rate occurred within 10 minutes and reached a maximum after 30-40 minutes. Part of this increased rate has to do with your body simply heating the water from its present temperature to body temperature.

The study also showed that drinking cooler water resulted in more calories being burned than drinking warmer water. Therefore, for an even greater benefit of water on weight loss, make sure that the water is cold.

So to take some of the difficulty out of losing weight, drink more water. It may not have the allure of expensive diet supplements, but it does work, plus it is low cost, so it won't leave a hole in your pocket.