Water is the nutrient your body needs most. You need water to digest food, to transport nutrients to your cells, and to build new cells. Water helps keep your body temperature stable. It also helps remove carbon dioxide, salts, and other wastes from your body. Some of these wastes are removed from your body in sweat.
You get some water from the foods you eat, but you get most of the water you need by drinking water. In fact, to keep your body healthy, you should drink six to eight glasses of water each day.
Fiber is another important nutrient that helps in digestion. Although fiber itself cannot be digested, it helps move other foods through your digestive system. You get fiber from foods that come from plants. However, fiber can be removed when foods are processed.
Processed foods include bread, rice, and many cereals. To get enough fiber, you need to choose high fiber foods. These include bran cereal, apples and pears with their skins on, fresh peas, and dried peas and beans.
