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Eat Your Water: 12 Hydrating Healthy Fruits and Vegetables
Water in these foods counts toward your daily needs and they’re nutritious, too
The human body is 55–60% water, and it needs a fresh daily supply for proper digestion, to keep organs functioning, joints lubricated, and otherwise stay healthy. But you don’t have to drink all the water you need. You can just eat some of it. Fruits and vegetables all contain water, and many are mostly water.
There’s no formal federal guideline for how much water you need, but independent groups say the average adult woman should consume about 11.4 cups of fluid per day and men should take in 15.6 (a cup equals eight ounces).
The total amount of fluid can come in the form of plain water, coffee, tea, or other beverages, soup, water-laden food like milk or yogurt, or produce. The water in any of those foods contributes to your daily needs, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Multiple benefits
Unlike juice or soda, which nutritionists discourage (especially for children) for their lack of fiber and nutrients and overload of sugar or other sweeteners, whole fruits and vegetables are also exceptionally good for you, providing fiber and vital nutrients, says Wesley McWhorter, DrPH, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Produce is also generally free of fat and cholesterol and has little or no sodium.
Consuming more produce can lower the risk for developing type 2 diabetes, according to a July 8 study in the British Medical Journal. Big helpings of research have shown that fruits and vegetables can lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and some types of cancer, and promote healthier weight, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The total amount of fluid can come in the form of plain water, coffee, tea, or other beverages, soup, water-laden food like milk or yogurt, or produce.
(Fruits sometimes get a bad rap, by the way, because of the high natural sugar content, but fruit is good for you, the Harvard…
