Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

water after oxygen, is the principal requirement of the human body; this consists mainly of water, and water has a function in all its tissues and all chemical actions within it. The amount of water required by an individual in a day depends on many variables (size, level of activity, ambient temperature), but is generally more than one would suppose.

Most people think of their water intake as coming in the form of water itself or other liquids which, just because they are liquids, are recognized as being mostly water. However, the amount of water which people obtain from the ‘solid foods’ which they eat is again much greater than they would suppose. A water melon is 93 per cent water, even bananas rate 76 per cent, potatoes 80 per cent, most other vegetables over 90 per cent, eggs 75 per cent, fresh meat/poultry/seafood 60–80 per cent, and bakery products 25–45 per cent.