Like water for chocolate; no ice, please

As everyone knows, Friday, March 22, is World Water Day.

Herewith, a few obscure facts about water, courtesy of water policy expert Christiane Barranguet, and links to the scientific studies from which the information is derived.

--Drinking an iced beverage before eating chocolate will dull the sweet, creamy or chocolaty taste. The study’s authors suggest that this helps explain why North Americans—who commonly consume iced drinks—eat more highly sweetened foods.

--Downing six to eight glasses of water each day is commonly cited practice to keep skin looking young. But a paper pours cold water on that theory, concluding that more study needs to be done to reach such a scientific conclusion.

--Vegetarianism saves water. The average amount of water required to produce about two pounds of: wheat--1,500 liters; rice—2,000 liters; and beef—13,000 liters.

--Two of the world’s most highly industrialized regions, North America and Japan, are the largest per capita consumers of water. The per capita use of water in the U.S., Canada and Japan is 350 liters, compared with Europe’s 200 liters and 10-20 liters in sub-Saharan Africa.