If you’ve ever watched oatmeal as it cooks you’ve seen a hydrophilic food in action. Hydrophilic, or “water-loving,” foods are loaded with soluble fiber. When mixed or cooked with water they swell up. In your digestive tract this same process occurs and creates a full feeling that helps keep you more satisfied, says Keren Gilbert, MS, RD, a registered dietitian and author of The HD Diet: Achieve Lifelong Weight Loss with Chia Seeds and Other Hydrophilic Foods (Rodale).
