Water - The Forgotten Diet Aid?

Water is something that most people in modern countries take for granted, although it is an essential of human life. I had not really ever thought of water as a diet supplement before, but if you think about it a while, water is not only precious to survival, it can play an assisting role in both diet and health.

One thing I learnt back in the 1980's, though, is that water is not always what it seems. I had been concerned about the number of people in our road in an East Sussex (England) town who were getting repeated bouts of sickness one winter. I decided to invoke my legal right to an analysis of our water supply.

What I received a few days later was something of a shock. There was nothing that could have indicated that water was the cause of all the tummy complaints and vomiting. However, that was soon forgotten as I undid the large brown envelope, and took out a long computer print of what was in our water.

You would expect H2o and some minerals and trace elements. Instead there was a long list of chemicals, some of which I recognized as a gardener. Poisonous pesticides and other chemicals, which would normally carry poison labels if found on a farm or in a garden shed, were creating a water based chemical cocktail. All I wanted to drink was water.

Intensive farming in the UK meant that it was almost impossible to get good quality drinking water from the local supply. I gasped as I read that list; and I never drank another glass of unfiltered tap water again, either in England or anywhere else. That was despite the water company's note at the bottom of the chemical list. It was a long time ago, but read something like: "All substances found in the water are within accepted limits of safety."

Maybe at an individual level they were safe, but combined, nobody was ever likely to know for sure. The long term build up of these chemicals, if not cleared quickly from the body, were at best not likely to contribute to your good health and at worst likely to do some serious damage over the long term. Without sufficient scientific evidence to assure me, I used my common sense, and decided to avoid drinking such water again.

There is little doubt that a reasonable supply of water in your diet should help you to maintain, rather than hinder, good health. But where do you get the water? Bottled mineral water sounds like a good alternative, but even that can be contaminated with farm chemicals in some regions. Purified water, which I drank for 5 years when I came to the Philippines, is just that: purified. I then read that long term use of purified water is not good for your health either, with such a low Ph. So, now we drink an Alkaline water, and hope that we have found the right solution at last.

With all these doubts about water and health, when you are considering the role that water might play in helping you to diet, the first task is to ensure you have the right drinking water supply. Once you have chosen, then is the time to incorporate extra water into your diet, to see if its use can help you lose weight.

How Might Water Aid Your Diet?

There are several ways that water can be an aid to weight loss, as well as your general health:

1. Water has zero calories. If you drink water, it is likely you will be doing so instead of drinking a positive or even high calorie drink.

2. Drinking a couple of glasses of water an hour before a meal is said to help you to lose weight, as it helps you feel more full before you start your meal.

3. Water is thought to cleanse the body, helping you flush out harmful toxins.

Drinking water may sound rather boring, but I find that is more in the anticipation than in the drinking. Water can be quite satisfying once you have had the first mouthful. Your brain then knows it is not getting a shot of sugar or caffeine.

Since moving to a tropical country, water has become even more important than before, so I do have a mix of water based drinks during the day. If you really do not like water on its own, try green tea. I have found recently that green tea, unlike the black tea I drank in the UK, tastes good even after going tepid. So, I make up a supply early, then during the day drink some hot, some cooling, some cooled to room temperature, and, if there's any left, leave it in the fridge overnight to have cold with ice.

To use green tea in that way, ensure you have good quality green tea leaves; I buy Chinese green tea leaves for a low cost and healthy drink, with a good supply of water. Miss the sugar? Well, pure honey is much nicer anyway, so mix some in if you wish. However, do not forget to drink water solo as well. Remember, it can help to cleanse your body.