To wonder what is wrong with people who don't really drink

I do actually need a drink to help my food go down as I have a twisted gulllet (or tortuous oesophagus to give it it's proper name) and food gets stuck and usually a drink will help ease it as it can be quite painful and sometimes embarrassing because if it won't go down then it has to come up. Not a fun thing to have.
I don't like hot drinks with food but do like cold things even without the gullet thing.

Before you post - read all the posts by the OP.

She's on holiday somewhere rural where the water is from a well.

She's complaining because her hosts don't appear to drink much after 4pm and there is no water for her.

It's unclear if there is none in the house, but it must be a very rural country with no piped water or tap water that needs boiling first (can't see the issue with that.)

Years ago when I went to a remote Greek island, it was suggested we drank bottled water , cleaned our teeth with bottled water, or boiled tap water before drinking it.

That's hardly a problem is it OP?

I think it's just a habit. When I grew up most meals didn't come with glasses of water, breakfast and tea (high tea back then)-there was tea to drink. I was surprised as a child when eating at a friend's house and there was water on the table. Now I would never have a meal without water or juice or whatever.

Where on earth did you read that? It's nonsense.

Your first post is really disingenuous.

And the whole thing sounds a bit bonkers.

You are staying with people who don't have tap water and drink from a well?

Is this rural Greece or some other European country?

Your post isn't really about people not drinking with meals.

It's about you being on holiday somewhere rural, and not having access to what we'd consider fresh water from a tap.

What do your hosts drink?

I won't even start to discuss Diet Coke which is one of the most evil and unhealthiest drinks known to man- full of terrible artificial sweeteners and phosphoric acid (that rots bones.)

Hmm yes that’s a really old fashioned view, one my fil subscribes to.

I have an overactive bladder so very careful about when I drink anything and need to know there's a toilet readily available. I do have medication for it but my lack of liquid intake stems from that.

I do drink with meals but as a child I wasn't allowed a drink with my meal in case it 'spoilt my meal' and had to wait until I'd finished my meal to have a drink. My mother had some weird ideas but that's a whole other thread.

Slight overreaction however- if we go to a cafe for breakfast, my father in law cannot comprehend why they bring his drink first before his sausage sandwich. We now don’t get him a drink until he has nearly finished his food so it arrives as he is finishing. I went to a private junior school, we never had a drink with our lunch (not sure if the private is relevant but I think friends at state schools did get a drink - and probably didn’t get hit as much!).

At one time it was designed on to drink whilst eating as it diluted your gastric juices or something.

There's a great episode of the podcast Off Menu when they interview Claudia Winkleman and she is like this. It astonishes me tbh but she seems very happy with it. Different strokes etc.

Are they eccentric or just plain rude?

To not have any drinks available to your guests and then be offended when they bring or buy their own is quite baffling.

Are they friends or family?

To those recommending boiling the water:

If the water source is a private well then the water might have all kinds in it.

Tap water as provided in the UK is safe to drink. It doesn't have any heavy metals, chemical contamination, etc etc.

A well that has been sunk in the ground might have germs and chemical contamination - mercury or lead.

Boiling the water from a private well will get rid of most of the germs but won't do anything about chemical contamination.

https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/boilwater/responseinformationnpublichealthhprofessional.htm

I need a know where you are @OptimismvsRealism I'm invested now 😂 You're obviously in the arsehole of nowhere considering the well is the water source and no local shops. I drink loads of water so totally sympathise! I take it you're reliant on someone else for transport otherwise I'd be away to the nearest supermarket and be filling my boot with bottled water etc!

I think the OP has completely exaggerated this situation.
Why go and stay with people who live in such primitive conditions if they are not the conditions she wants?
Or it's just a lie/child playing on mummy's computer

You sound like a child complaining they're hungry, but refusing to eat anything on offer.

YABU to not just drink boiled tap water.

But YANBU to not like being thirsty.

I drink loads and I feel poorly if I don’t drink enough.
I have to have a glass of water before eating and during eating.

I went on holiday and didn’t realise that you couldn’t drink tap water.
I had a panic over it because I took for granted how many times a day I would just use the tap without evening thinking.

In the end I got into a routine of boiling the kettle a few times a day and filling a jug which I kept in the fridge.
So all day I had nice chilled water straight from the fridge.

I never get thirsty. When I first moved in with my partner he noticed I never drink water and said it was really weird. I have to make a real effort to drink water, but I usually forget.

She's definitely not wrong about the tea with meals. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522026983#:~:text=Conclusion,in%20increased%20nonheme%20iron%20absorption.

what do you think tea and coffee are made with?
Just because you put something into the water, doesn't negate it's thirst-quenching qualities
Unless you add sugar or sugar substitutes

@OptimismvsRealism are you saying these people have no drinkable supply of water to their house (even if boiled)? And rather than get in any packaged drinks they simply don’t drink any fluids at home at all? Ever? Because that is a bit mad.

It’s horrible being thirsty and unable to quench your thirst, it’s horrible getting one of those tight headaches which just need a big glass or two of cold water to rehydrate you and make you feel better, and it’s horrible being in someone else’s house and feeling that you can’t just do what you need or would like to do.

Will they really be offended if you go and buy yourself a big pack of bottled water so you have something to drink for the rest of your stay?

The issues people believe are 'cured' by a prescribed amount of water are often ones that people who don't drink this amount dont experience in the first place. If you eat a diet rich in fruit and veg with a high water content, low salt, low/no alcohol and caffeine, sweat minimally due to lack of excess weight, balanced hormones, moderate climate, and low or no meat, you are highly unlikely to experience constipation, headaches etc by simply following your thirst. People's bodies are out of balance for a variety of lifestyle reasons, and 2 litres of water is an easy way to temporarily alleviate the impact of that. It also gives the illusion of doing something proactive and positive for health/weight loss/beauty without a need to do very much so has gained a lot of traction.

If we had guests staying I would buy juice etc. But we just drink lots of tap water at home. Love it!

This. It’s weird.

you really think you cannot eat a meal without choking unless you have a drink????

Yep. The scientific community generally supports drinking water and there is no proper evidence at all to say it adversely affects digestion.

Give me some peer-reviewed scientific papers rather than a couple of blogs and a feature, then you can say I am wrong