Some are laser focused on it, others more casual. And no one disputes that you should take a drink when you're thirsty. But how much liquid you consume every day is the big question. The recommended intake is determined by your height, your weight, your health, your gender, your activity level, not to mention whom you ask. But in round figures, experts recommend that you consume between 10 and 16 cups of fluid a day.
That doesn't mean you need to fill up a gallon jug when you wake up and polish it off by bedtime. While unadulterated liquid water is certainly the gold standard and an integral part your body's basic structure, your intake can come from a variety of sources. Coffee, juice and milk all count, as well as foods that contain a high proportion of water, like cucumbers (95%), strawberries (91%) and lettuce (96%). And yes, watermelon is not a misnomer: for every cup that you slurp and spit out the seeds, you are getting a half a cup of pure liquid.
In our house the run-away leader is the clear stuff coming out of the tap. A distant second and third is coffee and tea, with fruits and vegetables filling out the rest of the top ten. It's only if you go way down the scoresheet that you find one of the most popular sources for many (and scourge of the modern American diet): while in much of the country they call it pop, here we know it as soda.
I say scourge because while it does contribute to your necessary liquid consumption, experts also point to sugary sodas as one of the leading causes of obesity and health problems. In a 2018 survey (and in a continuing stream since then) researchers looked at 20 studies addressing the link between sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity in children, as well as 10 studies involving adults. Overall, 93% percent concluded that there was a "positive association" between the onset of obesity and the consumption of sugary drinks in both groups.
In our house, save tonic or bubbly stuff used as mixers when we have guests, we don't tend to drink any variety in a major way. I confess I have gotten hooked on a refreshing cocktail of a little orange juice topped with sparkling water as a rehydrater after I come back from a long walk or bike ride. But in terms of curling up with a Sprite or a Coke, it's not a thing in my world.
Save for one glaring exception: I have rediscovered root beer.
At some time in my past I acquired a taste for the drink that was dormant for years. While a mug of soda was my preferred accompaniment to a slice of pizza, it was almost always a Diet Coke or equivalent. At my usual rate of consumption, a case lasted a couple of months, a stash my wife replenished on her regular shopping excursions. Then one day she tasked me with picking up a few miscellaneous items from the store. I worked my way down the list, grabbing some lemon juice here and oregano there. The last item simply said "soda - your choice." I had my hand on the usual red and white cans when I noted a sale. And before you could spell A&W I was cradling a case of sarsaparilla's grandson.
I had forgotten the taste, but quickly warmed to it. It became my go-to indulgence, though I opted for the no-sugar version. I discovered other like-minded aficionados, friends who requested a soda who, when informed of the choices, brightened into big grins and chose my stash. Then there were the two electricians doing an upgrade in our home who passed the case on their way out and sheepishly asked if they could grab a few cans. My wife offered ice: they were happy just to have the goods, warm though it might be.
Compared to other sodas, experts say root beer is "healthier" in that it usually has fewer ingredients, less sugar, and no citric or phosphoric acid to erode your teeth. That aside, the taste is what counts, and that produces a binary reaction: you either love it or you don't. But haters gonna hate, so nothing to be done. As for me, I firmly float on the other side.
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Marc Wollin of Bedford drinks when he is thirsty. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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