To wonder how we survived without constantly drinking water while working in previous decades?

[Chinsupmeloves]

A bit lighthearted but also a serious question!

Looking back at all the jobs I've had from age 16, working while at university and career after, it wasn't commonplace to have a Stanley or filled bottle nearby. We had breaks and mostly had a quick coffee and a food, same at lunchtime. No one took bottles of water, hot drinks or cans, that was it! At school also, juice at break and lunch then drink water at home.

A) On the one hand I feel the obsession with keeping hydrated has been propelled by the manufacturers of drinking vessels, especially with the imprinted quantities for times of the day, insulated to keep cool and so on. From this POV it seems OTT when people are walking around a supermarket with their bottles with the fear their bodies may shrivel up. In schools, having them on their desks, the bottle flipping, guzzling down a litre of juice from home in the first 10 mins of a lesson then desperate for the toilet, stating it's a human right to drink til you busrt! In addition the sales of plastic bottles of water to continue to carry around, you should see the bins overflowing with them in every classroom, so much for encouraging environmental values.

B) I've also realised yes it is important to keep hydrated during the day and we need more than a few cups of coffee as fluid to keep us sustained. I was one of the few, as a teacher, who would bring in a small carton of juice to sip at (days before reusable were used for anyrhing than to clip on your bike) as I got thirsty! I was however told off, that I shouldn't be drinking those few sips during lessons, yes truth. It was only a bit as drinking more would mean I would need to go to the loo, which I knew was impossible at break times when on duty or lunch when I had meetings, detentions, extra tuition. To walk to the staff toilets meant 2 blocks away outside, flights of stairs and a queue, so it was a scheduled comfort.

Back to the point...

AIBR Drinking during breaks and lunch is perfectly adequate, no need for constant sipping, especially in schools where it can cause so much disruption by those who take the mick.

AIBU We need to consistently sip to help us with talking, feeling well and focus.

As an adult I now value being able to have a bottle nearby at work, in the car on long journeys, but not a constant need everywhere I go. Xxx

I've never worked in an office environment, all my jobs have been active and standing up so guess I'm not used to this.

Yes absolutely the same privilege for our younger generation at school but within reason. As I said, some take it as an allowance to down a bottle of water in a few minutes then demand to go to the toilet, all for show and to provoke, others throw them at each other, others pour it a over the tables and claim it was accidental. It really is an extra task to supervise behaviour for simply because they have access to a plastic bottle in their hands to choose to cause disruption.

Agree

Drinking 8 250 ml glasses daily reduces your risk of bowel cancer.

Such a sneery thread about an important health issue that can actually save lives.

Are you from the UK?

I'm kind of glad that water has become such a thing. My teeth and my dentist will agree that the copious amounts of squash I drank as a kid was definitely not a good thing! It always makes me laugh that my mum was 100% anti fizzy drinks but squash? Absolutely fine.

I remember being really thirsty when I got home from school in the 80s and 90s. I don’t why someone would care whether people are deciding to drink water in a way that suits them.

I had a load of UTIs as a teen and it took ages to realise that I needed to drink more. It’ll also help people in later years when UTIs are common if drinking water is embedded. Would reduce falls, hospital admissions etc.

But why do you care? If you don’t want a water bottle then don’t get one but why does it bother you other people have and like them? Drinking more water is harmless and doesn’t affect anyone other than the person drinking the water. And it’s very easy to clean a straw.

Although his entirely possible that as a society we are all more dehydrated than we realize, which leads us to have all kinds of issues (including overeating because we think we're hungry when really we're thirsty) But all the years that I was in school, primary, secondary, college, university, training schools, all the years that I was working, and every level of job at every stage of the way, NOBODY carried a water bottle or other type of drinking vessel, the ONLY time that you drank was when you were on a break or lunch And as far as I know, we all survived this. I can't understand why except for the fact that it's just become a fad and then a habit and then nobody really thought about why they're carrying it along with them, we as a society apparently can't survive without constant hydration. It's really quite baffling.

I can’t bring myself to be worried about what other people are or aren’t drinking, and it’s beyond me why anyone would care what I am consuming. I have a Stanley cup that sits on my desk (and own straw cleaners for anyone concerned about that!) and drink about 3l of water a day plus a couple of coffees. The Stanley reminds me to drink and the size means I’m not getting up from my desk to keep filling a small cup. You do you and I’ll do me, bigger things in the world to worry about!

Are you from the UK?

I agree society wasn't aware of the need to be hydrated then, amongst so many other things. Clean water also wasn't easily accessible way back and that's regrettable. Knowing we need fluids and all the other health advice has been life changing. Xx

I agree, it's been lifechanging to be aware of the importance. My post was to question how did we survive with just drinking when we did.

YANBU, and I am sick of them in schools, sick of them! I am sick of filling them up every morning, my eldest constantly forgetting/losing his, traipsing round to the office to enquire at lost property as I don’t want to buy another one…bring back water fountains or yes, wait until lunch time!!! 😂

And when my mum was a teenager she used to take 6 slices of bread worth of sandwiches with her. Teenagers are hungry isn't really a headline grabber, is it?

Agreed. We were thirsty. I remember being so thirsty all the way through my school years. There were water fountains but they were disgusting.

Why is anyone upset that people are drinking water?

That's ideal drinking that much water from a cooled stanley cup during the working day. However not all jobs are office based so you can't go the nearby toilet whenever you want. Also not practical to carry around a huge plastic cup, dangerous, impractical and not allowed.

Do you think having the same water all day is better than a fresh fill though?

I was a child of the 70s and I certainly snacked

Aren't some of them hard to wash properly, they look a bit fussy

Oh so many worse issues to deal with, this was just curiosity. DH wfh and doesn't drink water, just constant cups of tea! Xx

I just have this one but I’m not sipping through the day, it’s more a few gulps so works for that

I think this is how I feel?

every job I’ve had since 2000 I’ve always had a glass of water on my desk…… but I just don’t understand the obsession with huge water bottles, or walking round supermarkets with them.

my nail tech has one of those huge 2l Stanley cups and I’m like, why? You literally work from a converted room in your house - just refill a glass between clients !

Water bottles belong in the gym/for doing sports.

Apart from schoolchildren having access to fresh, cold water in playground fountains and water in jugs at every table for lunch and adults had somebody employed specifically to clean and bring round drinks twice a day in many workplaces, maybe people didn't habitually drink as much water. I know we were never allowed a drink with a meal at home because it was believed either we wouldn't eat or that it would affect digestion.

But then people get to old age and one of the main issues in elderly care is getting people to drink, kidney stones are a common thing in late middle age, particularly in men and I think this indicates that whilst it may not have been a thing to drink as often, that wasn't necessarily because it wasn't needed.

Various medics over the years have told me that:
a] Most people get enough hydration from their food;
b] Studies on people who only drink neat spirits show they're sufficiently hydrated;
c] All the same, it's better to drink some fluids;
d] Coffee and tea are as hydrating as water.

You read a load of bunkum about this, mainly that we need 2 litres of water a day and that coffee isn't hydrating because it's diuretic. If there was enough caffeine in a mug of coffee to force your kidneys to speed-expel a mug of water, it'd be prescription only!

Over-hydration does make your skin look healthier. Extreme over-hydration can wash nutrients out of your cells, though, so you could end up having to replace electrolytes and micro-nutrients while having plumped-up skin. Worst case, too much water weakens the cell walls and all kinds of weird long-term damage can result.

As you may have guessed, I drink coffee all day unless I'm actually thirsty or am drinking alcohol (I do 1/1 with water).

I grew up in the SE of England and the tap water was so disgusting, no-one I knew drank water - we all drank squash! I live in Wales now, the water is lovely and all my kids were happy to drink water. I do try to remember to drink a few glasses a day as well as a morning coffee and several mugs of tea! I couldn't be arsed to carry a water bottle with me everywhere though 😂

Can you elaborate further on your medical expertise and explain how drinking water strains the kidneys?

FWIW my mother is from the 'hardly drink/drank water' generation and has stage 4 kidney disease.

Yes but you can drink 8 glasses of water in a day without dragging a massive drinking vessel around everywhere.