Intake from water from foods but not beverages, is related to lower body mass index and waist circumference in humans
I have often wondered how some “health” recommendations get so blown out of proportion and become so widely accepted despite no evidence to support them, or worse–evidence to the contrary. Female HRT, dairy intake, etc…). The near ubiquitous recommendation of 8-10 glasses of water per day falls into this category, matched with the recommendation to increase water intake to maintain satiety during dieting. Consider this–there are no published recommendations to support this level of water intake, and yet, when one considers BPA exposure from plastic bottles and the sometimes chemical laden, low quality bottle water, these recommendations may very well prove harmful.
This article puts another nail in this coffin, finding that water content of foods helps to improve body composition, but water consumed separately does not have any effect.