# I hate water (for drinking) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757 "2019-07-28T15:26:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steven\_Estes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/1 "2019-07-28T15:26:31Z")
I hate water (for drinking). I don’t think I‘ve had five glasses in the last nine years. Instead I drink caffeine free Diet Coke. Lots of Caffeine Free Diet Coke. 72 ounces a day, much more liquid than most people deink liquid. While caffeine Free Diet Coke may, or may not, cause kidney stones in smaller dies, my kidneys are clear. Perhaps the large amount of Caffeine Free Diet Coke washes them out. However, while caffeine Free Diet Coke would seem to be as good as water for hydration, there is the issue of the chemicals that make it Non-calorie. Question 1. There is little or no evidence that the chemical do any harm. 2. There is some evidence, but it doesn’t outweigh the value of the large amount of liquid. 3. There is considerable evidence of harm and it is best to get off Caffeine Free Diet Coke NOW. If the answer is “3”, is there a non-calorie drink (other than water) that does not have the dangers of caffeine Free Diet Cole? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/2 "2019-07-28T15:42:52Z")
I hate tap water, and individually bottled water is too expensive; I usually compromise by buying the gallon jugs of water sold in the supermarket for ~$0.99 If I have a craving for fizziness, I drink club soda. Admittedly though I also drink a ton of decaf diet soda. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/3 "2019-07-28T16:09:26Z")
[Here ya go](https://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20739512,00.html). ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/4 "2019-07-28T16:10:15Z")
I’m not a doctor but I think you would do better to use ice to make water less tap like, if you can’t filter it to your needs. I make a very large herbal tea in the AM, have half a cup out of it, and then drink it for the rest of the day cold. It’s the best way to quench my thirst. Seltzers are great when you open the can, but flattening and a little warmth make it much less appealing. Plus it’s hard to drink sodas fast without some discomfort. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/5 "2019-07-28T16:27:43Z")
Right there with you, not a fan. Of course I’d drink it if dying, but otherwise it lacks flavour, in my opinion. I’m not much for soda pop either, ginger ale is ok in a pinch. I drink tea, and a lot of highly diluted Ribena (black currant cordial). ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/6 "2019-07-28T16:43:12Z")
I prefer my water to be beechwood aged, cold filtered, fully krausened… The Lake Michigan tap water we get here in Chicago is fantastic. That said, most mornings, I grab a can of room temperature Aldi knockoff La Croix (Vie Belle) grapefruit to drink during my half hour drive to work. It’s a routine at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/7 "2019-07-28T16:57:57Z")
[Caffeine Free Diet Coke](https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/drinks/diet-coke/caffeine-free-diet-coke) is (assuming the UK and US products are the same) sweetened with [aspartame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy) and [acesulfame potassium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acesulfame_potassium). I don’t know a lot about the latter but I have worked on aspartame - this was a pharma application, so as you can imagine the standards for evidence are high. This [link](http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/ans110228) is a useful starting point for digging around in technical reviews. > [@](#): > > In a statement published today, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concludes that two recent publications on the safety of artificial sweeteners, namely a carcinogenicity study in mice (Soffritti et al., 2010[1]) and an epidemiological study on the association between intakes of artificially sweetened soft drinks and increased incidence of preterm delivery (Halldorsson et al., 2010[2]) do not give reason to reconsider previous safety assessments of aspartame or of other sweeteners currently authorised in the European Union. So that’s what they say. One thing I would add - you must be drinking a colossal amount of this stuff; aspartame really isn’t that stable, and so for pharma use there’s a good reason to formulate pH to the optimum for aspartame stability. That pH happens to be pretty acidic. I’m guessing that for similar reasons soft drinks using aspartame are likewise pretty acidic. If that’s right, you might want to talk to your dentist about what you’re exposing your teeth to on a daily basis. As to the categories of risk in the OP, I would go for 1. There is some evidence… - there’s always evidence. Should you worry? Check out what EFSA or the FDA have to say - they seem fairly cool about it, for the moment. But I would say that the question isn’t 2…but it doesn’t outweigh the value of the large amount of liquid. As others have pointed out, there are alternatives. You’re not (or should not be) measuring the absolute risk vs dying of dehydration, you’re measuring the relative risk vs available alternatives. Just sayin’ j PS: careful as you google - aspartame scares are one of the favourite hotbeds of food crankery and conspiracy theorising. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/8 "2019-07-28T17:08:06Z")
I don’t like water, whether it’s distilled, tap, bottled, etc, as it doesn’t have a taste. I only consume water that has additives: juice, milk, or soda. Fortunately I have a high metabolic rate; I have to actively _try_ to gain weight. Calories present in these substances don’t bother me at all. I avoid diet and “zero calorie” drinks. If someone wants to build me a Star Trek-style transporter so I can teleport water directly into my stomach, I will happily start “drinking” water. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/9 "2019-07-28T17:28:32Z")
I always get amused when someone pontifically tells me that people need to drink eight glasses of water daily, and “caffeinated and alcoholic beverages do not count!!!” For many years all I ever drank was coffee, iced tea, wine, cocktails and the occasional beer. By their rules I should be dead by now. These days, I do drink water and sparkling water, but nowhere near eight glasses per day. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/10 "2019-07-28T17:36:07Z")
Huh. I love water. Drink lots. I always have a glass that I leave out in the kitchen so I can grab a few ounces. Hate, hate, hate sparkling water. When in Germany, that was the standard with meals. It sucked. ~ Funny story. Once at my brothers house I had a glass just set on the counter top so I could grab a quick drink when I wanted. SOP. My wife, trying to be a good house guest, would see a ‘dirty’ glass and put it in the dishwasher. Huh, glass is gone so I’d grab another. At the end of the day, we where out of clean glasses. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/11 "2019-07-28T17:51:31Z")
Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water. - W.C. Fields ---
**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:** [July 28, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/12 "2019-07-28T17:56:08Z")
[Moderating] Questions about food and drink go in Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/13 "2019-07-28T20:23:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Moderating] > Questions about food and drink go in Cafe Society. The OP actually had a science-and-nutrition type General Question that most posters have been ignoring, perhaps because he padded it with so much opinion of his own. But now that we’re in Cafe Society, can I say I think it’s weird how many people say they hate drinking water because it doesn’t have any taste. That’s like saying you don’t like breathing pure, clean air because it doesn’t have any smell. Water isn’t wine: you’re not supposed to taste it, you’re supposed to gulp it down and quench your thirst. “Hate” seems an awfully strong word to use for something that, even if it doesn’t have any positive qualities, doesn’t have any negative qualities either. Your life on the whole must kick ass if the things you hate, you hate just because they don’t provide you with enough pleasurable sensations. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/14 "2019-07-28T20:33:47Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water. > > - W.C. Fields Water? Never touch the stuff. Fish fuck in it. –W. C. Fields. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/15 "2019-07-28T20:58:53Z")
Younger brother in **The Boondocks** comic strip: “Hey! There’s no Kool-Aid or soda in the fridge! What am I supposed to drink?” Older brother: “Try a glass of water. It’s like giving your insides a shower.” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/16 "2019-07-28T21:09:47Z")
Wow! Water is just about all I drink, other than a couple of cups of coffee in the a.m. Maybe an occasional iced tea or lemonade… Yeah, Chicago has great water, but most big cities do as well. Was recently in Austin Tx and St Paul MN, and Denver, and Cincy - all had fine water outta the tap. No idea why anyone with access to (and already paying for) such would pop for bottled water. Sure, I’ve been to places w/ well water that I didn’t love. But wow! ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/17 "2019-07-29T02:35:06Z")
I only drink water in extended hikes or when in a very dry place and giving a conference. If I’m thirsty I avoid water. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/18 "2019-07-29T02:41:39Z")
Water is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/19 "2019-07-29T02:53:31Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > If I’m thirsty I avoid water. This makes no sense to me. I mean, are you trying to avoid hyponatremia? If so, that’s pretty extreme. I dunno. Growing up, if we were thirsty, we went straight to the water fountain. Nothing quenches my thirst like water, or water with a little bit of salt and sugar in it if I’m severely parched. And by that, I mean severely parched. Back when I used to do thirteen mile runs as part of my workout, plain ol’ water was just fine to keep me going. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757/20 "2019-07-29T03:21:41Z")
Cold water on a hot day is a brilliant drink. The sensation one gets is far beyond mere taste. I only drink three fluids. Water (lots), wine(…OK, lots as well:D), and beer (occasionally). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-water-for-drinking/837757.md?page=2)