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

Carrying around bottled water was not a thing for many of us, purely because it wasn't avaible, but mostly because marketing people knew that at that stage, people weren't so gullible as to believe they would drop dead from dehydration if they didn't drink every 2 minutes.
It's a whole rip-off industry, but hey, go for it if you are daft enough
But hydration requirements very between individual, so @OptimismvsRealism , don't be so daft as to 'lose sleep' over this. I mean, if you want to lose sleep over anything, why not the state of the country, or the potential for ww3, or the state of prisons, or domestic violence, or child abuse, or the cost of living...
Wtf?

You shouldn’t drink with a meal, but before or after it.

I genuinely only get thirsty in hot, sunny weather or if I’ve exerted myself.
It’s not a feeling I get otherwise.

I'm constantly thirsty/ have a dry mouth and am ways drinking water. Never alleviates it. Drives me mad. I have to drink when eating but know many people don't 🤷

I think it’s what happened as a child and continuing habit. Those kids where parents put drinks in front of them at meals believe they ‘need’ a drink with their meal. Kids of parents who didn’t don’t understand the concept. Both myself and my kids were in the second category, however one of mine had disabilities such that for much of childhood they needed a thickened liquid with any solids, and were the only one with such a drink at meals. So my kids believe there is something medically wrong with people who ‘need’ to drink with a meal 🤣.

Wonder if it’s slightly generational. I’ve noticed my (boomer) parents and their siblings don’t have water with meals. I hate eating without water to hand. Then again I don’t carry a water bottle everywhere whereas my kids do, so they’re even more hydrated!

Very strange, is this a thing? I drink water all throughout the day, constantly have a bottle of water with me drinking it, drink about two glasses with each meal. My husband is the same probably drinks more actually.

although I do remember me and dh going out with a couple before and they seemed to be confused as to why we were ordering water to the table, they just drank their beers and didn’t sip any water at all, even after we ate really salty pizza. So odd to me.

Oh dear
You need to read different articles
Nothing true in those pearls!

I drink tea, gallons of the stuff. There’s nothing else in the house but instant coffee and various types of alcohol. I rarely drink tap water at home.

I always think my parents must be dangerously dehydrated. My mum will have a cup of tea with lunch, she might have a glass of water with dinner but not as standard. I take my folks on holiday with me every year - UK so not roasting hot - and I'm always amazed at how they just don't drink anything! I've never seen them with a bottle of water, if we are having a picnic lunch mum will "find a cup of tea somewhere" so doesn't pack drinks. I always have a bottle of water with me, I can't stand eating without a drink, I'll order tap water alongside my wine if I'm drinking in the sun 😂

I can remember at primary school being so so thirsty all the time and the torture of that tiny plastic cup of ribena with the school lunch being the only liquid all day, and not being allowed to ask for another one.

Maybe some people just don't need hydration! I feel rubbish if I don't drink enough water.

I remember drinking very little as a child and being horrifically constipated

I often don't drink with meals, and apart from tea/coffee, I wouldn't sit with a drink. However, I keep a pint glass next to the kitchen sink, which I drink in one a few times a day, when I'm in the kitchen. Overall volume of water is fine for the day, but anyone watching would think I don't drink.

I drink a lot of water or I feel pretty crap and do a like a drink when eating - possibly just habit?

(Last night I couldn’t sleep thinking about how some people can wear high heels all day without getting sore feet so I empathise on the random thoughts keeping you awake!)

My DH doesn't need a drink with food, if we eat out he will have one but at home he just drinks whenever he is thirsty. He actually drinks quite a lot throughout the day though, and is careful about staying hydrated. I do want a drink with my own food so I know what you mean about it seeming odd when someone doesn't, but it probably means they have a good ability to swallow food. Personally I have often had problems taking pills, whereas DH takes them very easily again sometimes not even with water.

DH needs to have water when eating, I just prefer it. I’m not a lover of dry food though, I’m equating this with eating a roast with no gravy for some reason!

I drink throughout the day but don't have a drink with food. My DD is the complete opposite. Everyone is different. Not sure it warrants a sleepless night!

If I was staying with someone I'd expect water and tea and coffee to be provided, nothing more though.

Why do you have to boil the tap water? We don't routinely buy other drinks, a bottle of oj on the weekend sometimes or there's milk. We drink water.

Yeah my two kids have always been complete opposites for fluid intake! One needs pints of water and has a real urgent thirst (no not diabetes), the other never really needs to drink - she does, but I think she could get by with an occasional apple!
But yeah I remember being at friends houses who frowned on a glass of water with a meal, it was awful!

I do drink plenty during the day though, a large coffee in the morning, water throughout the day, a Diet Coke sometimes or SF juice with fizzy water. Rarely drink alcohol, only on holiday or when out out

I prefer a drink when I'm eating, even soup which my mother said I shouldn't need a drink with because it's liquid already.
Maybe related to that I don't find hot drinks thirst quenching.

However, I've never noticed whether other people have a drink with a meal; on reflection, DH doesn't.
I've also never stayed anywhere where there wasn't even potable water to drink and that includes the place where the water came from a well.

I assume the unable-to-sleep thing is MN hyperbole (cf "screaming").

I read it's best not to drink too much with food, as it can dilute the stomach acid needed for digestion.

A glass of water is ok if you're already dehydrated but not necessary.

Tea is not advised with food at all, as the tannin reduces how much iron you can absorb from food.