Eat This!

CEBU, Philippines - Eight glasses of water daily? Quite a feat if you're not a big drinker just like most of the human population out there. Personally, I am guilty as charged. However, with summer lurking just around the corner, waiting to bathe us in a blanket of sunlight well into May, there's a huge need for us to stay hydrated or suffer the headaches and the sluggishness that come with dehydration.

It's easy to forget that water tumbler when you're soaked with activities to do and places to go-at least that ranks at the top of the most convenient excuses of not drinking more than a glass of water in a day. 

But who says we have to drink our water to be hydrated when you can actually eat it? No, sweetie pies, I'm not talking about melting a cube of ice in your mouth every so often and eating and ice cube like you do a candy. I'm talking about really eating your water and the fiber and vitamins that come with it.

Still a little lost? Here's what I mean.

Watermelons

Cool, crisp, light. Who doesn't love watermelons? Watermelons aren't as sweet as other fruits but it is probably the juiciest. It's water with the slightest bit of sweetness and flavor, just a hint to still make all of it refreshing. The fruit is made up of 92% water, which accounts for its name. It's teeming with vitamin C which can help keep you strong against cough and colds, and, when you're lucky enough-or, rather, when you know how to choose your melons-and pick one that has a nice, rich red hue, you can bet it has loads of lycopene, an antioxidant also found in tomatoes that can help protect you against heart disease and certain types of cancers. Enjoy as many wedges as you want and yes, go ahead, see how far you can spit the seeds.

Salad Greens

If veggies aren't exactly you're thing, that's got to change this summer if you want to keep yourself hydrated while at the same time lean. Two cups of salad greens, after all, has fewer than 15 calories but compared to nothing but plain water, it's packed with folate, fiber, Vitamin C, and yes, beta carotene which makes the yes sparkle with health and which keeps the skin glowing hence making you look nothing short of fab sans the facial creams and all the other stuff that you've been putting on your skin to fake that glow. Best of all, salad greens are 90 percent water, leaving you not just full, but yes, hydrated.

Cucumbers

No, these aren't just for the eyes. Cucumbers are also great thirst quenchers considering that 95 percent of it is all water. At the height of summer, experiment with cucumber recipes so you won't just have to slice cucumbers up and pop them into your mouth like chips. With fiber and Vitamin C, what's not to love about cucumbers?

Strawberries

Indulge the sweet tooth in you while at the same time get hydrated with strawberries. Among all the members of the berry family (Rachel Berry, included) strawberries have the most Vitamin C. At 91 percent water, strawberries are also rich in folate and Vitamin B, which helps keep new cells in tiptop shape. 

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken soup isn't just for fighting flu or for nursing your soul when it's bruised. Mom's secret flu fighter is here to keep you hydrated, as well. A regular bowl of chicken noodle soup has enough sodium to help you keep the broth in as well as 14 grams of carbohydrates to help you absorb it. Plus, it has protein to boot.

Popsicles

Yes, here's the reason why you should hail the man on the bike with the ice cream freezer side car to stop and give you a popsicle for less then ten pesos. Popsicles won't just make you feel like a kid again but it's around to help you cool down after a mad marathon and replenish your body with the fluids it lost after all that spiking, running, and dunking. 

Rice

Thank God rice is our staple. Mom may have told you to cut down on rice after seeing you bloat and boast that bilbil but seriously, rice is good especially when you're not at all particular about how many times you've drunk water in a day. Rice could save you from being dehydrated. Rice absorbs much of the water it was cooked in helping you replenish the water you've lost throughout the day. It's also packed with carbs and a bit of sugar to give you that added boost of energy.

Theoretically, if you have enough of these fluids boosters, you won't need a drop from the tap but hey, nothing still quenches thirst the way water does. So if you're up for an action-packed summer this year, make sure you don't just load up on your H2O. Get your fill with these hydrators and say bye-bye to headaches and mucho sluggishness.