Food With Water

Water is the most important ingredient in cooking. It’s what makes food taste good and helps our bodies digest it.

It’s also crucial to the health of our planet, which is why we’re so excited to announce that [company name] is pledging to donate $1 for every bottle of [product name] sold this week to Water.org!

Our mission at [company name] is to make delicious food accessible to everyone, regardless of their income or location. We believe that good food should always be accessible, whether you live in a city with a thriving food scene or a remote village where fresh produce is hard to come by.

That’s why we’ve decided to partner with Water.org on their #Drop4Drop campaign: for every bottle of [product name] sold this week, we’ll donate $1 towards providing clean water access around the world.

This might seem like just another marketing ploy, but it’s not! We’re serious about making a difference in people’s lives through food—and through water access too!

Food With Water

Your body needs water to function. Because you constantly lose water through breathing, perspiration, urine, and bowel movements, you have to replenish your body’s water supply regularly.  

Research originally recommended that you drink 8 ounces of water eight times a day. However, newer guidelines suggest that you drink water when you’re thirsty — unless you require extra water due to your activity level, where you live, whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding, and your health. If you let thirst be your guide, you will likely meet your body’s hydration needs.

According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, adequately hydrated women consume an average of 2.7 L of water each day, while men consume about 3.7 L daily. These values cover fluids from water, other beverages, and food.

Why You Need Water

Water is essential to your survival. In your body, water works by:

• Regulating your body temperature
• Moistening your eyes, nose, and mouth tissues 
• Protecting your organs and tissues
• Bringing nutrients and oxygen to your cells
• Lubricating joints
• Flushing out waste products
• Dissolving minerals and other nutrients for your body to use.

If you lose more water than you take in, you can easily become dehydrated. Common causes of dehydration include, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, infections, and not drinking enough water in hot climates or when exercising. The symptoms of dehydration in adults are:

• Extreme thirst
• Less frequent urination
• Dark-colored urine
• Fatigue
• Dizziness
• Confusion

The symptoms of dehydration in babies or young children, include:

• Dry mouth and tongue
• No tears when crying
• No urine in their diaper for three hours
• Sunken eyes or cheeks
• Sunken soft spot of the top of their head
• Irritation or lack of emotion

If left untreated, dehydration can lead to serious problems, such as:

• Urinary tract infections
• Kidney stones or kidney failure
• Seizures
• Low blood volume shock (a life-threatening amount of oxygen in your body)

Heat Injury (heat cramps, heat exhaustion, or life threatening heatstroke) 

Foods With Water

Although 80% of your daily water intake usually comes from beverages, the other 20% usually comes from foods.

Here are 10 foods high in water:

1. Cucumber
   Because it is 95% water, one serving of cucumber has only 8 calories. Cucumber is also a good source of fiber, vitamin K, and vitamin A. 
2. Tomatoes
   Tomatoes are a rich source of water as one cup of sliced raw tomato contains 170.14 g of water.
3. Watercress
   The high amount of water in watercress is surely one of the reasons this vegetable topped the list of “powerhouse fruits and vegetables” compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
4. Apples
   Per a 100-gram serving, apples have 85.56 g of water, making them a perfect snack for staying hydrated.
5. Celery
   Celery is a healthy vegetable that is made mostly of water. A single cup of it contains 115 g of water.
6. Lettuce
   Water makes up over 95% of raw lettuce. In addition to helping you stay hydrated, lettuce helps with bone strength, vision, and sleep. 
7. Watermelon
   This juicy fruit gets its name from containing 92% of water serving as a great snack for staying hydrated. Watermelon is also power packed with beneficial nutrients and is a great source of antioxidants.
8. Peaches
   Although the fiber content in peaches makes them a filling food, they are made up of 85% water. 
9. Broth
   Broth is a soup base often made by simmering bones in water with seasonings. You can add vegetables to broth to make it extra hydrating.  
10. Zucchini
    One cup of zucchini contains 90% water and contains 1 g of fiber that keeps you feeling full.

why is water important

Drinking water does more than just quench your thirst — it’s essential to keeping your body functioning properly and feeling healthy. Nearly all of your body’s major systems depend on water to function and survive. You’d be surprised about what staying hydrated can do for your body.

Here are just a few important ways water works in your body:

• Regulates body temperature
• Moistens tissues in the eyes, nose and mouth
• Protects body organs and tissues
• Carries nutrients and oxygen to cells
• Lubricates joints
• Lessens burden the on kidneys and liver by flushing out waste products
• Helps dissolve minerals and nutrients to make them accessible to your body

Every day, you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements, which is why it’s important to continue to take in water throughout the day. For your body to function at its best, you must replenish its water supply with beverages and food that contain water.

Mayo Clinic recommends this minimum daily intake of water:

• Women — 11.5 cups
• Men — 15.5 cups

By consuming the minimum recommendation of water, you’re helping your body function better and improving your overall health. Read tips and a recipe if you have difficulty drinking enough water daily.

You know you need water to survive, and you feel better when you drink it regularly. But what’s really at play in the body when you sip H2O?

In short, a lot.

Believe it or not, your body weight is about 60 percent water, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Your body uses water in all its cells, organs, and tissues to help regulate temperature and maintain other bodily functions. Because your body loses water through breathing, sweating, and digestion, it’s important to rehydrate by drinking fluids and eating foods that contain water.

The amount of water you need depends on a variety of factors, according to the Mayo Clinic: The climate you live in, how physically active you are, and whether you’re experiencing an illness or have any other health problems all affect recommended intake.

Here are the reasons why water is such a powerful element when it comes to your health.

6 Unusual Signs of Dehydration You Should Know About

1. Water Protects Your Tissues, Spinal Cord, and Joints

Water does more than just quench your thirst and regulate your body’s temperature; it keeps the tissues in your body moist, according to the Mayo Clinic Health System. You know how it feels when your eyes, nose, or mouth gets dry? Keeping your body hydrated helps it retain optimum levels of moisture in these sensitive areas, as well as in the blood, bones, and brain. In addition, water helps protect the spinal cord, and it acts as a lubricant and cushion for your joints.

2. Water Helps Your Body Remove Waste

Adequate water intake enables your body to excrete waste through perspiration, urination, and defecation. Water helps your kidneys remove waste from your blood and keep the blood vessels that run to your kidneys open and filter them out, according to the National Kidney Foundation. Water is also important for helping prevent constipation, points out the University of Rochester Medical Center. However, as research notes, there is no evidence to prove that increasing your fluid intake will cure constipation.

3. Water Aids in Digestion

Water is important for healthy digestion. As the Mayo Clinic explains, water helps break down the food you eat, allowing its nutrients to be absorbed by your body. After you drink, both your small and large intestines absorb water, which moves into your bloodstream and is also used to break down nutrients. As your large intestine absorbs water, stool changes from liquid to solid, according to the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Water is also necessary to help you digest soluble fiber, per MedlinePlus. With the help of water, this fiber turns to gel and slows digestion.

4. Water Prevents You From Becoming Dehydrated

Your body loses fluids when you engage in vigorous exercise, sweat in high heat, or come down with a fever or contract an illness that causes vomiting or diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If you’re losing fluids for any of these reasons, it’s important to increase your fluid intake so that you can restore your body’s natural hydration level. Your doctor may also recommend that you drink more fluids to help treat other health conditions, like bladder infections and urinary tract stones. If you’re pregnant or nursing, you may want to consult with your physician about your fluid intake because your body will be using more fluids than usual, especially if you’re breastfeeding.

5. Water Helps Your Brain Function Optimally

Ever feel foggy headed? Take a sip of water. Research shows that dehydration is a drag to memory, attention, and energy, per a small study on adult men from China published in June 2019 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. It’s no wonder, considering H2O makes up 75 percent of the brain, the authors point out. One reason for that foggy-headed feeling? “Adequate electrolyte balance is vital to keeping your body functioning optimally. Low electrolytes can cause issues including muscle weakness, fatigue, and confusion,” says Gabrielle Lyon, DO, a functional medicine physician in New York City.

6. Water Keeps Your Cardiovascular System Healthy

Water is a huge part of your blood. (For instance, plasma — the pale yellow liquid portion of your blood — is about 90 percent water, notes Britannica.) If you become dehydrated, your blood becomes more concentrated, which can lead to an imbalance of the electrolyte minerals it contains (sodium and potassium, for example), says Susan Blum, MD, founder of the Blum Center for Health in Rye Brook, New York. These electrolytes are necessary for proper muscle and heart function. “Dehydration can also lead to lower blood volume, and thus blood pressure, so you may feel light-headed or woozy standing up,” she says.

7. Water Can Help You Eat Healthier

It may be plain, but it’s powerful. In a study of more than 18,300 American adults, people who drank just 1 percent more water a day ate fewer calories and less saturated fat, sugar, sodium, and cholesterol, according to a study published in February 2016 in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. Water may help fill you up, especially if you drink it before eating a meal, a notion that was backed up in a small study of 15 young, healthy participants that was published in October 2018 in Clinical Nutrition Research.

How Much Water Do You Need?

As the Mayo Clinic notes, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends that men consume 3.7 liters (15.5 cups) and women get 2.7 liters (11.5 cups) of fluids per day, which can come from water, beverages in general, and food (such as fruits and vegetables). You can also try the Urine Color Test, courtesy of the U.S. Army Public Health Command, to evaluate how you’re doing on drinking up. After going to the bathroom, look at the color of your urine. If it is very pale yellow to light yellow, you’re well hydrated. Darker yellow is a sign of dehydration. Brown or cola-colored urine is a medical emergency, and you should seek medical attention.