Top breakfasts with fruit
Snack on watermelon or oranges
Add a side salad to meals
Choose soup as a starter
Thornton-Wood notes that ingredients made up of a lot of water can be lower in calories.
“That’s not always the case but, for instance, gazpacho or tomato and courgette soup are very watery, so the number of calories in them is very low.”
“If you’re not trying to lose weight, you need to bear in mind that if you’re having a meal like one of those, with very high water content, you might want to add other ingredients to boost the calories.”
Some dishes that are especially high in fluid may not just be lower in calories but in some nutrients too, warns Benelam.
“If you make your diet very rich in water, it could become less nutritious than what you might need, especially if you’re somebody with high nutrient requirements.
“You probably wouldn’t want little children, for example, to get lots and lots of water from their food because they have small stomachs and high nutrient needs.
“So if they tend to eat a lot of soups, salads and vegetables, you’ll want to give them other, more nutrient-rich foods alongside.”
It’s a fine balance to consider, seeing as children (as well as older adults) have a higher risk of dehydration.
Also important to remember is that your food will likely lose some fluid when you cook it, as moisture heats up and evaporates.
Cooking with a lid or using a slow cooker or pressure cooker, can help stop some moisture from escaping.