Why this binge drinking?

I used to take my water bottle to the classroom.  I figured that if I am going to be participating in talking for almost two hours, well, I better have water by my side in case my throat became dry or if I had to clear my throat.

Extremely rare was the day when I actually sipped from it though.  Evidence-based practitioner that I am, well, it has been a long time since I carried my water bottle to classes.

And that was only for my classes.  I couldn't be bothered walking around with a water bottle in my hand, as if I was a toddler in need of a comforting milk-bottle and pacifier close by.  Unlike most of my fellow Americans, I don't carry coffee or soda or whatever in my hand wherever I go.  Practically paraphilic infantilism all that to-go behavior is! ;)

These days, it is all about water.  Soda and sugar are increasingly treated like cigarette and nicotine.  "Hydrate" is considered as the Eleventh Commandment!  "Hydration is now marketed as a cure for nearly all of life’s woes."

“There’s no evidence that a little bit of dehydration really impacts anybody’s performance,” said Dr. Mitchell Rosner, a kidney specialist at the University of Virginia

Exactly.

And then there is the possibility--however small that is--that one could over-hydrate; if that happens, water is practically poison, as I blogged just a few months ago.  Further, people seem to think that the only way one can hydrate is through water.  But, hey, what about coffee? Fruits like oranges?  Ah, yes, it is not about critical thinking and evidence ;)

We have been brainwashed:

We think of water as so good for us that the bottled water industry doesn’t need to spend much money on convincing us to buy it, compared with marketing budgets for other beverages.

Even if we decide that we all need access to drinking water all the time, well, there are other ways to accomplish that.  The public spaces that we use could have drinking water fountains/faucets.  But, oh yeah, the commercial water industry made sure that we would even get rid of them so that they can sell more packaged water at exorbitant prices!

I am getting angry now; have to douse that fire inside with cold water ;)