To not have a drink with your food!?

I was brought up by a family of camels and consequently tend to drink large amounts but very infrequently, although as the the diet was mainly dry grass, leaves and salt-tolerant shrubs, a drink with food is always greatly appreciated.

I grew up ALWAYS having a drink with every single meal. And still do, whenever I visit my mum.
But otherwise... No... I just got out of the habit of it.
I usually have a drink with breakfast, because I often wake up feeling parched, but lunch and dinner. Rarely.

At least 10 people have already said that on this thread, and at least the same amount have pointed out that scientifically this is untrue 😊

Drinking lots of liquid with food dilutes stomach acid making digestion less effective.

Yes it is. People follow their bites with water instead of properly chewing food, and for good digestion you need to chew your food well. Then they also fill their stomach with food and water which has an impact on stomach acid’s concentration and is also bad for digestion. Here in this thread people are saying they can’t swallow food without water which means they are not chewing it well

You’re brave, admitting to drinking alcohol on here 😬

I never drink with a meal. Usually at the end of a meal say coffee or tea. My wife however drinks to swallow her food. Surely whatever suits?

Mumsnet will of course call me an alcoholic, but a nice evening meal without a glass of wine (AND a glass of water!) is existing, not living in my world.

I can’t eat without a drink. DH will though and I think it’s weird too!

I don't, I just go out to the kitchen and get a drink afterwards.

I’ve spent my life irrationally believing I will choke if I don’t have a drink at the side of my meal. Generally don’t even drink it until the end. But it has to be ready just in case!

I'm into really hot spicy food and I never drink with a meal, or for at least half an hour after.

I must be living on the edge.

Nope, I can't have a drink with food, always after for me but never during

I love having drinks with meals!

I have family members who wouldn't think of having a drink with any meal (I suppose that it's fortunate that none of them were really into hot, spicy food...!), and they were usually the ones who didn't like (or join in with) conversation at the table, either. That was weirder still, as mealtimes were the one point of the day where everyone was together to catch up on things.

Usually don't think about or need a drink with food - DH is unable to eat without a drink

At home I rarely have a drink with my food. I don't know why, just doesn't occur to me to have one. When I'm out I do because not ordering a drink would be weird.

We have a cup of tea afterwards (or coffee, if we’ve had a nice dinner with a glass of wine). My late ILs always had tea with fish and chips or a cooked breakfast.

Growing up, we always had a builders mug of tea with a Friday chippy 'Tea' (evening meal) or Saturday chippy Dinner (lunchtime) often both days running 😁
It's the only meal I would ever brew up with now, but still the norm where I'm from.

We weren’t allowed a drink with food as children. Even when the food in question was as dry as a camel’s chuff. I can still remember the misery of trying to choke down stale peanut butter sandwiches and begging for a bit of way. My stepfather believed that all children were on a mission to avoid eating their food by “filling up on water”. If you got caught sneaking a few gulps out of the tap while he was out of the room, you got thumped.

My children were allowed free access to drinking water. Because we aren’t assholes. <yes, I’m very bitter>

Growing up we didn’t have a drink with our meals, only at Christmas/Easter/New Year when the children would have a cream soda and the adults maybe a Liebfraumilch. Ordinary times the dc drank whenever thirsty and the adults would have a cup of tea directly after the meal.
Since I ran my own household we always have a jug of water on the table.

It’s just habit for me to put glasses and a jug of water on the table when setting it for meals, I’ve always done it and my husband and kids do too.

That myth has been debunked, although it might be the case for some people with digestive issues.

Never have a drink with food ( unless it’s wine out in a restaurant before I gave up thst is! ) I heard it’s bad for digestion or something to drink when eating

No worries at all 😊

In fact thanks for putting me right.

I may have a few sips of water after I have finished my meal or between courses when I’m at restaurants. I get tap water for this reason because I’m not spending the money on a beverage I know I’m not going to finish and rather not be asked about not having a beverage at all.

At home, it usually doesn’t occur to me to get a drink until after I have finished my meal or wait until after I finished.