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Bodytalk
Question: Do I really need to drink eight glasses of water a day? Meet your water
quota with foodAnswer: We've heard for years that it's essential to drink eight glasses of water every day to remain hydrated and healthy.
What it should say is eight glasses of fluid a day, because other drinks, such as juice, milk and decaffeinated beverages, should also be counted.
Alcohol and caffeinated beverages dehydrate the body, so they should not be included.
Did you know that food also counts toward water balance? There is a surprising amount of water in the food we eat.
Lettuce, cucumbers and celery are about 95 percent water -- that's more than skim milk, which is 91 percent water.
Oranges are 87 percent water, and bananas are 74 percent.
Even red meat is 59 percent water by weight.
About the only food that contains absolutely no water are vegetable oils, and they are liquid by nature.
So if food contains so much water, why are we advised to drink an additional eight glasses a day?
Because it's safer to be sure that you're meeting your body's fluid needs than to assume that the water you get from food will make up for any shortfalls.
These recommended eight glasses of additional fluids a day are especially important for those on a reduced calorie diet, for those who exercise and sweat a lot, for older individuals whose sensation of thirst has diminished and for anyone who lives in a hot, humid climate.
There are a number of ways to slip extra fluids into our everyday life.
For example, put a little extra milk in your morning bowl of cereal, or take some additional sips of water after brushing your teeth.
Carry a water bottle in your car, and have a bottle by your work space.
In other words, make it easy to take a drink.
Q: Do you think it's important to eat food in the right combinations?
A: One of the ideas of the food-combining advocates is that one shouldn't eat proteins and carbohydrates at the same meal.
In my opinion, that's just silly.
Eating carbohydrates alone results in an imbalance in your bloodstream in favor of the tryptophan those foods generate.
That tryptophan advantage results in a relaxed, sluggish feeling that can make it hard for a person to get through an active day.
The amino acids found in protein foods prevent that tryptophan advantage and maintain your mental and physical energy levels.
Food-combining advocates also believe that fruit should always be eaten raw and alone.
If you do eat fruit with other food, they believe it will ferment, rot and turn toxic in the stomach.
There is no evidence to support such a claim. To the contrary, we know that fermentation does not occur in the stomach.
The food-combining theory is further undermined by the fact that most foods are themselves combinations of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, and our digestive systems have evolved to handle food combinations very efficiently.
It seems to me that food combining is just another way to make our diets unnecessarily more complicated.
If everyone ate a variety of nutritious foods throughout the day, and in the amounts needed to sustain health, we would all be better off.
Health Events
Stephenie Karony is a certified health
and fitness instructor, a personal trainer and the author of
"Body Shaping with Free Weights." Send questions to her at
P.O. Box 262, Wailuku Hi. Her column appears on Wednesdays.