# Do you drink (any nonalcoholic beverage) while you eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988 "2011-11-05T21:17:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/1 "2011-11-05T21:17:53Z")
I’ve noticed when eating with other people, many - if not most - don’t drink much while they eat. I’m not talking alcohol, but water, pop, iced tea, whatever you tend to drink when you get thirsty. I’ll typically go through at least one large glass of water, perhaps two, during a meal. The bigger the meal, the more I drink, sips in between bites. I’m not sure I could really enjoy a meal properly if I didn’t have water, or perhaps juice, on hand; I’d get uncomfortably thirsty. But most people I’ve eaten with recently drink very little during the meal. I first noted this when I went out with a friend about two months ago for a giant steak dinner - appetizers, salad, steak with all the fixin’s, then dessert. I went through two large glasses of iced water during the meal, she sipped about an inch out of one glass. Since then I’ve been paying attention and it seems I drink a ton more than my fellow diners. My mother always served water with meals, so that’s probably where I picked up the habit. But recently I’m wondering if this is cultural (I’m in the midwest now but grew up overseas) or an individual difference thing or what. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/2 "2011-11-05T21:22:16Z")
I grew up and still live in the Midwest. I find that I never need to “wash down” food like that; unless food is terribly dry or overly salty, I don’t drink much that isn’t alcoholic during the process of eating something. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/3 "2011-11-05T21:25:15Z")
I drink 2-3 cups of water or iced tea (unsweetened) when I eat. I can’t imagine eating without drinking. It’s not for washing down food, but just makes eating more pleasurable. ETA: I grew up in Western, NY ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/4 "2011-11-05T21:26:33Z")
I voted “Drink something, maybe just a little” but I think I’m really between that and “Drink a ton”. I drink more than a little but less than a ton. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/5 "2011-11-05T21:29:49Z")
I drink. Lots. Usually iced tea. I rarely drink soda at all. But I pretty much tak a sip after every bite or 2. Midwest (Indiana) born and bred. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/6 "2011-11-05T21:30:47Z")
I generally want a beverage handy when I eat. It’s not really a matter of “washing down” food, but eating is less enjoyable when I’m thirsty. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/7 "2011-11-05T21:34:27Z")
I always prefer water with meals. I don’t like booze with food and I find every other drink has sugar in it. Which just makes me more thirsty. I usually consume at least two large glasses of water when dining out. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/8 "2011-11-05T21:36:55Z")
Yep, I drink at least one large glass of water, and it has to be water, with my meal. The larger the meal, the more water I drink. I like to completely cleanse my tongue, teeth, and palate between each intake of food. If there’s no water, I’ll usually choose not to eat, even if it’s simply a snack. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/9 "2011-11-05T21:52:20Z")
I usually drink while I’m eating, but if there’s no beverage available at the time the food is, I’ll just shrug my shoulders and drink something later. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/10 "2011-11-05T21:59:00Z")
At a restaurant, massive amounts of iced tea. At home, diet soda. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/11 "2011-11-05T22:07:37Z")
Milk, by preference. Tea or coffee vie for second, except in Summer. Then, iced tea. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/12 "2011-11-05T22:10:34Z")
I get through several glasses of water with each meal. Built up the habit when I lived in the tropics & then the desert & its stuck with me all these years. No, it’s not about washing down food. I agree it’s pretty rare to see other people do the same. I recall back in California in the mid 70s there was a drought / water shortage & a law was passed that restaurants could no longer automatically serve a glass of water to each patron. Prior to that substantially every sit-down restaurant from uber-fancy joints down to greasy spoon diners would automatically bring a glass of iced water for everyone at a table. After the law took effect water would be served only on request. The restaurants loved the reduction in server & washing effort & glassware inventory. Long after the drought was over the law, or at least the custom spawned by the law, was still universal out there. I suspect that got a lot of people used to not drinking as much liquid with a meal. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/13 "2011-11-05T22:34:48Z")
I sip on diet pepsi pretty much all day, so that includes meals. But how much of it I drink while eating sort of depends on the food itself. Rice with gravy doesn’t require much if any washing down, but a sandwich with a thick bread would need quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/14 "2011-11-05T22:47:33Z")
I used to, but then a few months ago I heard that a lot of fluid prevents your food from being digested for quite a while, and then I started imagining big globs of rotting food floating around in the water or whatever I’m drinking, in my stomach, and that grossed me out, so I stopped. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/15 "2011-11-05T22:51:30Z")
Usually have a glass of soda (caffeine-free Diet Coke at home, whatever diet soda is available at a restaurant). At a restaurant, I’ll usually also have at least one glass of water. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/16 "2011-11-05T23:12:43Z")
I don’t eat without something to drink. If I’m at a restaurant and my glass runs empty, I will wait for my refill before resuming my meal. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/17 "2011-11-05T23:15:56Z")
I need a full glass of something–water, milk, soda–during a meal. When I spent a year in Scandinavia, I was told that it was rude to drink during the meal. There was a drink, but you would eat and then drink. I never understood how it could possibly be rude to drink while you ate. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/18 "2011-11-05T23:45:59Z")
Sips of water at home or at work. Sips of mineral water if I’m dining out. I think I’d get far too bloated if I were to be a ‘drinker of tons …’ ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/19 "2011-11-05T23:58:28Z")
I would get full long before I ate enough if I drank during my meal. At most I may have a sip of water, but usually my glass is untouched. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988/20 "2011-11-06T00:45:00Z")
If I’m home, then I drink a large glass of non-fat milk with my meal. After dinner, I go through several large glasses of ice water in the evenings. If I’m eating out, I drink either Coke, iced tea (both if before 4:00 pm), or ice water (if after 4:00 pm). I grew up in Tulsa. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-any-nonalcoholic-beverage-while-you-eat/601988.md?page=2)