To repeat what I just posted on another thread ...

You just hit on a big pet peeve of mine -- these people who schlep around a water bottle all day, sucking on it every few seconds. I've always maintained that this was stupid -- and reflects poor etiquette. If you want water, use a glass. The worst is when they do this in business meetings.

I've read a bit on the water thing, including one study that was done at a major university. They collected everything they could find on the "8 8-ounce glasses of water a day." The came up empty-handed as to the origin of this "rule." There was one study a long time ago that said the human body needed approximately 64 ounces of fluid per day to function well. BUT, the second half of that sentence never got repeated -- that MOST of the 64 ounces comes in the form of regular food. They also found that coffee (if you're accustomed to drinking it) is no more dehydrating that plain water.

I could go on and on. There are the purists who say that the 64 ounces MUST be plain water, no flavoring or anything. Well, then they can't drink water with any food, since that's no different from adding a bit of flavoring to the water.

Did I say I could go on and on? Does anyone really think our paleo ancestors drank that much water every day?

I'm not against drinking water (or Irish whiskey, for that matter). I just don't think there are hard and fast rules that must never be broken.