"Water is the only drink for a wise man," suggested philosopher Henry David Thoreau. Medical research has affirmed Thoreau's musings. It seems that water makes for a wise beverage choice -- your body needs hydration and water is cheap, widely available and abundantly good for your body. Apparently, it's also wise to choose foods that are water-dense. Eating water based foods -- foods that are filled with water -- can enhance your health and help you lose weight.
Water, Water, Everywhere
Water is one of the primary chemical components of your body, accounting for 60 percent of your body weight. Every single biological system in your body requires water. Water carries nutrients to every cell in your body, flushes toxins out of your organs and provides a healthy, moist environment for tissues. It cushions your joints and soft tissues. You need water to digest and extract nutrition from food and water is necessary to carry fat out of your body. You can survive for three weeks without food, but most people will perish after three days without water, reports Life's Little Mysteries. Even mild dehydration can quickly cause weakness and fatigue.
How Much
You lose water every day through perspiration, urination, breathing and bowel movements. It is important to replenish this crucial life-source. Doctors and medical experts generally advise at least eight or nine 8-oz. servings per day, reports MayoClinic.com. The Institute of Medicine recommends that men consume about 13 cups of beverages per day and women consume about nine cups per day.
Food Sources of Water
You can also obtain water from the food you eat. Many fruits and vegetables are more than 90 percent water by weight. When you eat these foods you are consuming more water than anything else. Aside from the obvious advantage of providing critical hydration for your ever-thirsty body, you are filling yourself with water, sating your hunger with a non-caloric, healthful, necessary-for-life substance. And as it turns out foods that are water dense -- fruits and vegetables -- also tend to be packed with minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients that your body needs to operate. So, water-dense foods hydrate you, fill you and provide crucial nutrition. In addition to these benefits, they tend to be low in calories.
Dietary Assistance
Water-dense foods also help you lose weight. The parts of water-dense foods that aren't water are rich in fiber. Fiber scrubs your digestive tract, contributes to your feeling of fullness and aids digestion. It also stabilizes your blood sugar and reduces the amount of starch and sugars that are absorbed from the food you eat. Harness water power in your diet by including fruits and vegetables in every meal and snack.
Beverage of Choice
The internet is rife with ads and article for pills and elixirs of questionable efficacy that purportedly suppress your appetite. Here's an elixir that's free, has no side effects has been shown to be effective: ordinary water. Brenda Davy, associate professor from the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginia Tech has performed several randomized, controlled studies that found that increased consumption of water before meals enhances weight loss. In earlier studies, she found that those who drank two cups of water shortly before eating a meal consumed 75 to 90 fewer calories during the meal. In a later study, she found over a 12-week period that dieters who drank water before all three meals each day lost about five pounds more than their non-water drinking counter-parts.
Food versus Beverage
You might consider fruit juice to be a water-dense source of nutrition, and you would be correct. However, you are better off eating whole fruit rather than drinking fruit juice. For example, a one-cup serving of orange juice has 21 g of sugar -- about 111 calories and provides only 0.5 g of fiber. On the other hand, at 70 calories, an orange provides six times the fiber, which slows digestion, reduces insulin surges and quells hunger pangs.
References
- Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes: Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate
- Life's Little Mysteries: How Long Can a Person Survive Without Water?
- MayoClinic.com: Water: How Much Should You Drink Every Day?
- Think Exist: Water Quotes
- Virginia Tech News: Clinical Trial Confirms Effectiveness of Simple Appetite Control Method
- Wolfram Alpha: Orange Calories
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