I have never been able to eat solid food without a steady dose of drinking fluids, perhaps not after every bite, but certainly continuously over the course of a meal.
This has been an issue of contention with my relatives all my life, because there is a belief in certain parts of Indian society that it is bad for your digestion to drink and eat at the same time. Pretty much all my relatives, especially of my parents’ generation and older, eat an entire meal, and then, only afterwards drink a lot of water.
I cannot do this. I get very thirsty when eating something, and I can’t enjoy the food without drinking something (most often I drink water during a meal). In addition, I feel physical discomfort in my throat and esophagus from swallowing solid food “dry,” that is, without occasional swallows of a drink every once in a while.
I’m wondering whether I’m alone in this, a crazy outlier, or if other people experience this.
In most of American culture it’s considered odd to have a meal and not have a beverage with it. But I do it sometimes. I definitely don’t need fluid with my solid food, it’s a matter of whether or not a given beverage would taste good with the other stuff.
Ascenray, I don’t currently need to drink when I eat, but I did for a while. In my case, it was due to inflammation of the lower esophagus, caused by acid reflux I had been ignoring. I had, in fact, developed a pre-cancerous condition. (Barrett’s esophagus.)
Maybe that’s just me. Maybe you’ve always been like this. Maybe your esophageal sphincter is just unusually small or inflexible. But it’s something to consider.
These days, I usually like to drink while I eat, but sometimes I forget to take any of my water until I’ve finished my food. Especially if I’m eating moist foods like vegetables, meat, or cook beans.
However I knew a biologist (Middle Eastern born and trained) who said that it’s wrong to have liquid with meals. She said we’re diluting our stomach acid when we do that, hindering good digestion.
I always have milk with my meal. I can’t drink alcohol when I eat. If I’m out with friends at a bar or something and we get pizza or sandwiches, I’ll have water or a soda.
I’m glad the choice of “I absolutely have to drink” was further qualified as “it’s unpleasant for me otherwise”.
While I can eat without drinking, I always want liquid available to me even if I wind up not needing a lot of it, even if it is not the type of food that would normally stick badly in one’s throat. Even, for instance, carrots, can sometimes feel like they are getting stuck in my throat and I need something to wash them down with to get rid of that feeling.
Depends. Not required. Often welcome, especially beer or wine. But my typical minimal breakfast usually proceeds from a cup of yogurt, to a granola bar, then a big cup of coffee after it’s cooled a little. Each chaw need not be rinsed down. My salivary glands still function.
One of my sons can’t eat if he’s thirsty. Been like that since he was a toddler, when he’d sometimes refuse to continue eating until he’d had some water. As an adult, he’s explained that thirst is such a distinct and overwhelming feeling for him, it overrides hunger or enjoyment for food.
Didn’t vote, because I don’t think I fit in the choices.
I usually drink some liquid with meals, often but not always water. I don’t always drink “a lot” – that depends on how thirsty I am. And it’s not that I don’t feel that I can’t get the food down otherwise; but that eating often also makes me thirsty. It does also depend on what I’m eating; among other factors such as salt and strong tastes, if the food itself is fairly liquid then I’m going to drink less, or maybe not at all.
But it doesn’t make any sense with me to say that it’s bad for you to take liquids with meals. That would mean that soup would be bad for you, wouldn’t it? but lots of cultures eat soups, and as far as I know without adverse consequences. And then there’s juicy fruits; but eating the whole fruit, solids and liquid together, is supposed to be better for you than just drinking the juice.
I have plenty of saliva for chewing chewing isn’t a problem. I don’t need to have water in my mouth along with food, but I need to drink frequently while eating.
I used to be like that, but I seemed to grow out of it some time in my twenties. Also always needed to have a glass of water by my bed at night, that I’d drain before morning.
One of my enduring memories of childhood is basically being permanently thirsty. There just never seemed to be enough liquid around for my needs.
I would say I’m 50% “I drink when I’m thirsty” and 50% “it varies”. I don’t feel compelled to drink while eating (unless it’s something very salty or spicy maybe), but if there’s a glass of water nearby I might take a sip.
When I was first dating my wife, sometimes we would go to a fast food restaurant and she would say “get me anything, I’m not fussy”. But I’m used to not ordering drinks at fast food restaurants and then she would get indignant that I didn’t order her anything to drink. Oops.
It depends on what it is. I often have meals w/o a drink, however some foods, particular dry meats such as white meat chicken, I do need some liquid as it sometimes binds up in my mouth from lack of moisture.