| Get With the Program! Basics |
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| The healthiest vegetables are always green. Greens are undoubtedly healthy, but vegetables and fruits in other colors—red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple—all bring different nutrients to the table. You’ll get the most antioxidants, vitamins and minerals if you keep your plate colorful. |
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Most people wouldn’t put water on the list of must-have nutrients. But when you consider the definition of a nutrient—a substance that helps the body perform functions that help you stay alive—you can see that water is indeed a nutrient. It also plays an important role in helping you process other nutrients, from carbohydrates and fat to vitamins and minerals. I advocate drinking at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.
 You can get water from sources other than just the tap (or the bottle). It’s in all beverages and even in foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, which have a high water content. But you can’t rely on these sources to provide all the water you need—particularly if they’re beverages that contain caffeine or carbonation, which, because of their diuretic effect, may cause you to lose some water. Your best bet is still to drink those eight glasses of pure, fresh water every day. Spread your consumption out over the day so that you don’t take in too much at once. (Drinking more than one to two glasses at a single sitting stimulates the body to rid itself of water).
A common misconception is that water doesn’t have anything to do with weight loss. But it does—and it’s essential for good health. You may by now know the old trick of using water to fill you up, but its relation to your weight goes beyond that: Every system in your body needs water to function, including the digestive system. Without adequate hydration you cannot break down food or metabolize fat efficiently.
Being dehydrated diminishes the body’s ability to perform virtually every physiological function, including the important process of fat metabolism. Dehydration can also make your body go in search of water, signaling you to eat more—a phenomenon I call “artificial hunger.” Another reason that you could end up eating more is that dehydration causes the digestive system to work at a diminished capacity, potentially preventing you from getting the nutrients you need and triggering unnecessary eating to make up for the shortfall.
For tips on how to work more water into your day, click here.
To read Boost your Metabolism—Stay Hydrated, click here.
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