What is your boomer dad's attitude re: drinking water?

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMenOver30/comments/1ih16i7/what_is_your_boomer_dads_attitude_re_drinking/

created by Typical_Dweller on 03/02/2025 at 21:53 UTC

3 upvotes, 78 top-level comments (showing 25)

Mine doesn't.

He's skinny and physically active, always puttering around outside. Doesn't sweat much, somehow. But doesn't drink water. Maybe a glass with dinner.

Drinks coffee, diet sodas, tea. No water.

What's up with that? Is it a generational thing? Are there younger men who just don't drink water?

Comments

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1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

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Comment by ImpressNice299 at 03/02/2025 at 22:03 UTC

21 upvotes, 3 direct replies

Our generation was brough up on the idea that drinking loads of fresh mountain sparkling stream water is the key to health. Probably because bottled water become popular in the same period. Drinking way more than we actually need is just a habit we have.

Comment by Icy_Huckleberry_8049 at 03/02/2025 at 21:57 UTC

37 upvotes, 3 direct replies

water can be in any form; tea is just water with flavoring.

Comment by MAJOR_Blarg at 03/02/2025 at 22:01 UTC

26 upvotes, 2 direct replies

It's a generational thing.

You know how it used to be a plot point of TV shows from the 50s through the 80s that people would just faint all the time, but you don't really see that in TV and movies anymore? It's because people used to walk around dehydrated all the time.

Comment by w4ndering_squirrel at 03/02/2025 at 22:01 UTC

28 upvotes, 4 direct replies

They're chronically dehydrated and have adjusted to it. If they did a gallon per day water challenge for a month, they'd probably realize how much better they'd feel.

Comment by Constant_Chip_1508 at 03/02/2025 at 21:54 UTC

13 upvotes, 3 direct replies

Mine doesn’t either, coke or unsweetened tea only. Idk how he does it I need tons of water

Comment by wpotman at 03/02/2025 at 22:35 UTC

11 upvotes, 2 direct replies

There was a study a while back that said people needed to drink 6 L of water a day to be healthy. (Really, the study never said "drink", but somehow "drink" entered the public consciousness.

Since then people have gotten the strange idea that drinking water with nothing in it is the only way to be hydrated. "Did you put a tea bag in that water? ...well...it's not water anymore! The water in a watermelon doesn't count: that's a fruit!" Etc.

Long story short if someone's pee is mostly clear they are hydrated just fine and it doesn't matter how they got there. All of the nonsense about how much water you need to drink is the silly part, not old attitudes.

That said, yes, some people are chronically dehydrated and need to do something about it and that might describe the father in question, but there are generally much bigger things to worry about.

Comment by Duzand at 03/02/2025 at 22:03 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

OP now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen my dad drink water

Comment by Lampwick at 04/02/2025 at 01:39 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

My father lived on coffee (6am to 10am) and beer (10am to 10pm) like a proper German ("water is for washing; Beer is for drinking"). Lived to be 75, and it was a congenital coronary artery abnormality that got him in the end. Doc did say his liver wasn't great though.

Comment by Radiant-Rip8846 at 03/02/2025 at 21:58 UTC

9 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I think some people just need more water than others. Also lack of water intake leads to kidney stones which are 10/10 painful.

Comment by Exciting-Gap-1200 at 03/02/2025 at 22:13 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

You mean diet coke?

Comment by Ballamookieofficial at 03/02/2025 at 22:32 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

"Fish fuck in it bugger that shit"

Now these days if I'm catching up with my parents for a beer they have to match every alcoholic beverage to water.

So pint of beer means a pint of water before the next pint of beer.

Comment by miserable_coffeepot at 03/02/2025 at 22:02 UTC

2 upvotes, 4 direct replies

My own father drinks plenty of water. Also coffee, tea, and wine.

Coffee and tea are both fundamentally flavored water.

Comment by tom_yum_soup at 03/02/2025 at 22:05 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I think it's a generational thing. My dad rarely drinks water. But, growing up, I don't remember drinking water a ton, either. It was milk, juice or kool-aid. Soda was a treat and when I got older I drank coffee, but rarely plain water.

In hindsight it seems bizarre, but it was normal in that era (80s/90s) and I think our parents are just stuck in their ways.

Comment by Annual-Afternoon-903 at 03/02/2025 at 22:05 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

My best man is 40, only drinks cola and red bull but his blood glucose is fairly low 3-4 so maybe it's just his body needing it. Strangely he doesn't like sweets. If it did that, I would get diabetes in 2 years.

Comment by bp3dots at 03/02/2025 at 22:11 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I'm not entirely sure I've ever seen my father drink a glass of water...

I'm sure he has, but I can't recall seeing it happen.

Comment by MorningRise81 at 03/02/2025 at 22:15 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

He drinks a lot of water. Me too.

Comment by 7625607 at 03/02/2025 at 22:18 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

My dad never drank water. He drank soda at home, soda or coffee anywhere else.

Comment by RuinedByGenZ at 03/02/2025 at 22:20 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

My did is the same build as yours always working

Never drinks water, chugs coffee and alcohol

Comment by Bordertown_Blades at 03/02/2025 at 22:21 UTC

1 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I never drank water, didn’t like it. Until I moved to Florida. Now I drink between 1/2-1 gallon a day. I also work outside now.

Comment by JWR-Giraffe-5268 at 03/02/2025 at 22:24 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I drink about 1/2 gallon per day

Comment by Mammoth-Accident-809 at 03/02/2025 at 22:24 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Dad was Navy/tradesman his whole life. He's 84. He gets his water from the 4 gallons of coffee he drinks a day.

Comment by Convergentshave at 03/02/2025 at 22:31 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Where does your dad live? Because in a large part of the country the water is… gross.

My dad drinks water. I assume? I don’t know. He’s like 78… he can drink whatever he wants honestly. I assume you don’t live to be nearly 80 without doing something right? I’m 40, I drink a bunch a water daily and to be honest I don’t feel like I’m going to make it anywhere that old 😂. (Or like I want too? 😂😂).

Comment by Wolf_E_13 at 03/02/2025 at 22:32 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

IDK about generation...my dad was pretty anti soda. All any of us drank was water. He did like his iced tea as well, but that was about it...water or iced tea. Fruit juice was for Saturday morning family breakfast only. I guess I've pretty much followed in that way.

Comment by Bitter-Expert-7904 at 03/02/2025 at 22:35 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Mine's the same. He also drank Coke for years when he was younger, then had to have caps fitted to his tiny peg teeth because they've eroded away