I’ve written about drinking water before. You know, the age old question of how much water we should consume.
It’s puzzling. In that blog post I went over the standard advice to drink lots and lots even if you’re not thirsty. And I looked at more recent research that says we’re all now over hydrating and causing health problems with too much water.
What about “drink when you’re thirsty, stop when you’re not.” Can’t we get anything right?
Now new research says we should “eat water, not drink it.” You know, orange slices and watermelon at half-time in soccer games and cucumbers and tomatoes fresh off the vine after. That’s the idea.
Dr Howard Murad, associate clinic professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of The Water Secret writes, “Healthy hydration is about the water you hold in the body, not the water you drink that passes straight through.”
He explains that, in fact, drinking too much water can actually be detrimental as it can deplete the body of vitamins and minerals by flushing them from the body too quickly.
But the water consumed via food is absorbed differently. this is because it’s surrounded by other molecules that help it get into our cells more easily, and work to keep it in our system longer.
“When we eat water-rich foods, we absorb water more slowly because it is trapped in the structure of these foods,” says Dr Murad. “That slow absorption means the water in food stays in our bodies longer, and brings a multitude of additional benefits.”
Again, as with last time, I’m sticking with drinking when thirsty. Except when I’m on the bike. Then I just drink, thirsty or not.
There’ll be no cucumbers in the back pockets of my bike jersey. I promise you that.
