By Lisa Drayer, CNN
5 minute read
Updated 9:14 AM EST, Fri March 2, 2018
According to the old rule of thumb, you're supposed to drink eight glasses of water per day (and some experts recommend even more). That can seem like a daunting task on some days, but here's the catch: You don't have to drink all that water. Roughly 20% of our daily H2O intake comes from solid foods, especially fruits and vegetables. It's still important to drink plenty of water -- especially in the summertime -- but you can also quench your thirst with these 15 hugely hydrating foods, all of which are at least 90% water by weight.
Cucumber This summer veggie -- which has the highest water content of any solid food -- is perfect in salads or sliced up and served with some hummus, says Keri Gans, author of "The Small Change Diet: 10 Steps to a Thinner and Healthier You" and a consultant to Mindbloom, a technology company that makes life-improvement apps. Want to pump up cucumber's hydrating power even more? Try blending it with nonfat yogurt, mint and ice cubes to make cucumber soup.
Water content: 96.7%
Iceberg lettuce Iceberg lettuce tends to get a bad rap, nutrition-wise. Health experts often recommend shunning it in favor of darker greens like spinach or romaine lettuce, which contain higher amounts of fiber and nutrients such as folate and vitamin K.
Water content: 95.6%
It's a different story when it comes to water content, though: Crispy iceberg has the highest of any lettuce, followed by butterhead, green leaf and romaine varieties.
So when the temperature rises, pile iceberg onto sandwiches or use it as a bed for a healthy chicken salad. Even better: Ditch the tortillas and hamburger buns and use iceberg leaves as a wrap for tacos and burgers.
Celery That urban legend about celery having negative calories isn't quite true, but it's pretty close. Like all foods that are high in water, celery has very few calories: just 6 calories per stalk. And its one-two punch of fiber and water helps fill you up and curb your appetite. This lightweight veggie isn't short on nutrition, however. Celery contains folate and vitamins A, C and K. And thanks in part to its high water content, celery neutralizes stomach acid and is often recommended as a natural remedy for heartburn and acid reflux.
Water content: 95.4%
Radishes These refreshing root vegetables should be a fixture in your spring and summer salads. They provide a burst of spicy-sweet flavor -- and color! -- in a small package, and more important, they're filled with antioxidants such as catechin (also found in green tea). A crunchy texture also makes radishes a perfect addition to healthy summer coleslaw, with no mayo required. Slice them up with shredded cabbage and carrots, sliced snow peas, and chopped hazelnuts and parsley, and toss with poppy seeds, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Water content: 95.3%
Tomatoes Sliced and diced tomatoes will always be a mainstay of salads, sauces and sandwiches, but don't forget about sweet cherry and grape varieties, which make an excellent hydrating snack, Gans says. "They're great to just pop in your mouth, maybe with some nuts or some low-sodium cheese," she says. "You get this great explosion of flavor when you bite into them." Having friends over? Skewer grape tomatoes, basil leaves and small chunks of mozzarella on toothpicks for a quick and easy appetizer.
Water content: 94.5%
Green peppers Bell peppers of all shades have a high water content, but green peppers lead the pack, just edging out the red and yellow varieties (which are about 92% water). And contrary to popular belief, green peppers contain just as many antioxidants as their slightly sweeter siblings. Peppers are a great pre-dinner or late-night snack, Gans says. "We tell people to munch on veggies when they have a craving, but a lot of people get bored of carrots and celery pretty quickly," she says. "Peppers are great to slice up when you get home from work, while you're making or waiting for dinner."
Water content: 93.9%
Cauliflower Don't let cauliflower's pale complexion fool you: In addition to having lots of water, these unassuming florets are packed with vitamins and phytonutrients that have been shown to help lower cholesterol and fight cancer, including breast cancer. (A 2012 study of breast cancer patients by Vanderbilt University researchers found that eating cruciferous veggies like cauliflower was associated with a lower risk of dying from the disease or seeing a recurrence.) "Break them up and add them to a salad for a satisfying crunch," Gans suggests. "You can even skip the croutons!"
Water content: 92.1%
Watermelon It's fairly obvious that watermelon is full of, well, water, but this juicy melon is also among the richest sources of lycopene, a cancer-fighting antioxidant found in red fruits and vegetables. In fact, watermelon contains more lycopene than raw tomatoes: about 12 milligrams per wedge, versus 3 milligrams per medium tomato. Although this melon is plenty hydrating on its own, Gans loves to mix it with water in the summertime. "Keep a water pitcher in the fridge with watermelon cubes in the bottom," she says. "It's really refreshing and a great incentive to drink more water overall."
Water content: 91.5%
Spinach Iceberg lettuce may have a higher water content, but spinach is usually a better bet overall. Piling raw spinach leaves on your sandwich or salad provides nearly as much built-in hydration, with an added nutritional punch. Spinach is rich in lutein, potassium, fiber and brain-boosting folate, and just one cup of raw leaves contains 15% of your daily intake of vitamin E, an important antioxidant for fighting off the damaging molecules known as free radicals.
Water content: 91.4%
Star fruit This tropical fruit, also known as carambola, comes in sweet and tart varieties and has a juicy texture similar to pineapple. Its eye-catching shape looks great in a fruit salad or as an edible garnish on the rim of a summer co*cktail. As a bonus, it's rich in antioxidants, especially epicatechin, a heart-healthy compound also found in red wine, dark chocolate and green tea. One note of caution: People with kidney problems should avoid star fruit because of its high levels of oxalic acid.
Water content: 91.4%
Strawberries All berries are good foods for hydration, but juicy red strawberries are easily the best of the bunch. Raspberries and blueberries both hover around 85% water, and blackberries are only slightly better at 88.2%. "I love strawberries blended in a smoothie or mixed with plain nonfat yogurt, another hydrating food," Gans says. Strawberries add natural sweetness to the yogurt, she adds, and the combo of carbohydrates, fiber and protein make a great post-workout recovery snack.
Water content: 91.0%
Broccoli Like its cousin cauliflower, raw broccoli adds a satisfying crunch to a salad. But its nutritional profile -- lots of fiber, potassium, vitamin A and vitamin C -- is slightly more impressive. What's more, broccoli is the only cruciferous vegetable (a category that contains cabbage and kale, in addition to cauliflower) with a significant amount of sulforaphane, a potent compound that boosts the body's protective enzymes and flushes out cancer-causing chemicals.
Water content: 90.7%
Grapefruit This juicy, tangy citrus fruit can help lower cholesterol and shrink your waistline, research suggests. In one study, people who ate one grapefruit a day lowered their bad (LDL) cholesterol by 15.5% and their triglycerides by 27%. In another, eating half a grapefruit -- roughly 40 calories -- before each meal helped dieters lose about 3½ pounds over 12 weeks. Researchers say compounds in the fruit help fuel fat burn and stabilize blood sugar, therefore helping to reduce cravings.
Water content: 90.5%
Baby carrots A carrot's a carrot, right? Not when it comes to water content. As it turns out, the baby-size carrots that have become a staple in supermarkets and lunchboxes contain more water than full-size carrots (which are merely 88.3% water). The ready-to-eat convenience factor is hard to top, as well. Snack on them right out of the bag, dip them in hummus or guacamole, or -- for a bit of added crunch and bright orange color -- chop them up and add them to salads or salsas.
Water content: 90.4%
Cantaloupe This succulent melon provides a big nutritional payoff for very few calories. One 6-ounce serving -- about one-quarter of a melon -- contains just 50 calories but delivers a full 100% of your recommended daily intake of vitamin A.
Water content: 90.2%
"I love cantaloupe as a dessert," Gans says. "If you've got a sweet tooth, it will definitely satisfy." Tired of plain old raw fruit? Blend cantaloupe with yogurt and freeze it into sherbet, or puree it with orange juice and mint to make a refreshing soup.
Foods that keep you hydrated
Story highlights
Washing can also damage plant tissues and expose them to oxygen
Packaging has shown the potential for retention of nutrients
And the convenience factor might be the most important one
CNN —
Those pre-packaged salads on produce shelves provide an easy way to get your daily serving of leafy greens. But does the convenience of bag-to-bite come at a price?
To find out how the processing of produce may affect its nutrient content, I consulted Mario G. Ferruzzi, a professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University.
“The general answer is that lots of things, including processing, will affect the nutrient content, but it really depends on the nature of the product, the type and extent of processing and the actual nutrient we are talking about,” he said.
Washing and chopping
Bagged greens are often pre-washed. (Isn’t that why we love them?) But washing, which is intended to clean produce, can also damage plant tissues and expose them to oxygen dissolved in the washing water. This can cause a loss of vitamins that are water-soluble and sensitive to oxygen, such as vitamin C and the B vitamin folate.
All greens are washed to a certain extent, whether we’re talking about a fresh bunch of spinach or the bagged version, but a triple-washed bagged spinach can create surface damage, provide opportunities for leeching or even facilitate oxidation reactions, all of which impact quality.
Still, Ferruzzi said that companies are “doing it in a way to maximize quality, and this can minimize losses” and that there is still a lot of nutrition left in the leaves after they are washed.
In general, minerals such as iron and calcium are largely stable in the plant. Losses may occur when heat is applied (as in the process of canning), but not as much through typical washing.
Vitamins tend to be more sensitive to light, heat and oxygen. Beta-carotene, for example, is not very stable in the presence of oxygen or light, Ferruzzi explained.
When it comes to chopping veggies, there may not be a great amount of nutrient loss from the cutting itself. “However, you do create damage to plant cells, potentially releasing enzymes and other factors, as well as create more surface area for oxidation to occur,” Ferruzzi said. In other words, chopping may accelerate losses that one would typically see in fresh vegetables as they age. However, dramatic losses are unlikely “unless you are obliterating it.”
Interestingly, chopping may actually increase the amount of beneficial compounds known as polyphenols: plant chemicals with antioxidant properties that may help protect against the development of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and neurodegenerative diseases. “When damaged, plant tissues have the ability to release more polyphenols as a stress response,” Ferruzzi said.
Packaging
Bagging greens often involves a process known as modified atmosphere packaging. The amount of oxygen that typically exists in the atmosphere is reduced in the bag, replaced with an inert gas such as nitrogen. In essence, less oxygen is available to react with nutrients. “And that can enhance the retention of color and the most oxidatively sensitive nutrients, like vitamin C, folate and beta carotene,” Ferruzzi said.
The main driver of this process is preventing visual changes such as browning or wilting, though nutrient loss would typically occur at the same time. The bottom line is that “bagging may help to keep what’s in there there longer,” Ferruzzi said.
The research on this type of packaging has shown positive results. In one study, modified atmosphere packaging in spinach helped preserve vitamin C, whereas other research has shown retention of nutrients in similarly packaged kale and other lettuces.
Convenience factor
For many (including myself), a bit of convenience will go a lot further than a bit more freshness – especially since my lettuce bags may sit in the fridge for a few days before I open them.
“What the convenience factor has done to increase our consumption of vegetables in this country is massive in terms of helping our country’s nutrition,” Ferruzzi said. “Let’s not find reasons to discourage it.”
For your freshest, most nutritious produce, go with your gut. “Your intuition and your eyeballs matter,” he said. Factors such as color and texture should be considered when purchasing greens, whether fresh or bagged. And with bagged, it’s important to look for ones with the most recent pack date, which are put in last and are most likely fresher, Ferruzzi explained.
“You want to buy higher-quality stuff, and that usually means fresher stuff but not necessarily less processed … and that should, in theory, be correlated to a higher nutritional value.”
Bottom line
All of this information may cause to you to wonder: Should you buy fresh greens or bagged?
The answer may have to do with when you are planning on eating them.
“The way I think about it is that there’s a typical quality and nutrient loss curve that happens from harvest to consumption. And there are steps in the middle that you can do that make it better or worse,” Ferruzzi said.
“If you think about, for example, fresh lettuce or fresh spinach that’s picked and harvested … it might be washed and bundled … and it’s exposed to oxygen, light and moisture, and it’s getting sprayed with water to stay cold and fresh, and there’s significant nutrient loss occurring day by day.”
With packaged greens, you may lose a little more up front during the initial processing, but depending on how they are packaged, you have the potential to control the rate of quality and nutritional declines when veggies are stored.
The same can be said for frozen veggies, which are initially blanched to inactivate enzymes that would otherwise break down nutrients and then frozen to stop bacterial spoilage, versus the natural degradation and rotting that occurs in fresh produce.
“When you compare fresh string beans in a store versus frozen, frozen will be almost always be higher in nutrient content, because they were picked and processed at the highest point of quality and then frozen to preserve them,” Ferruzzi said.
Lisa Drayer is a nutritionist, an author and a CNN health and nutrition contributor.
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