People taking part in a weight loss program did better over 12 weeks if they drank diet soda than if they drank only water, researchers reported Tuesday.

Among the 303 dieters, the people who drank only water lost 8.4 pounds; those who drank diet soda lost 12.1 pounds, and they reported “significantly greater reduction in subjective feelings of hunger,” the researchers said in the journal Obesity.

The results, the researchers said, “should be reassuring for people who choose to consume non-nutritive sweetened beverages,” and show that they can be consumed “without concern that their weight loss efforts will be undermined.”