The 'Hydro-Haters' Trend Reveals Market for Flavored Hydration Alternatives.
A conversation uncovers a notable group of people who genuinely dislike drinking plain water, often finding it bland or having grown up on sweeter options. It's not that they forget to stay hydrated; they just can't stand the taste (or lack of it) in water. This insight opens up a big opportunity for the beverage and wellness industries. Products like flavored sparkling water, zero-sugar flavor enhancers (like powders or drops), fruit-infusion water bottles, and advanced water filters that specifically enhance taste can be targeted directly to this audience. Marketing campaigns could focus on 'making hydration enjoyable,' 'upgrading your water,' or offering a 'healthy alternative with taste,' hitting right at the core issue identified in the discussion.
Origin Reddit Post
r/outoftheloop
What's the deal with some people not drinking water?
Posted by u/EnzoRaffa16•06/27/2025
https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/hydro-haters-people-who-dont-drink-water
I understand not getting *enough* water, but how does someone *hate* water, or find water *boring*? How does some
Top Comments
u/Ungarlmek
My dad used to drink nothing but coffee and Coca Cola. It took YEARS of bullying to get him to start drinking water.
u/InformationMagpie
I don’t know how old you are, but America before 1990 was a different world. A lot of people would associate a glass of water with taking medicine, rather than hydrating. Milk was considered
u/ctrlrgsm
Everyone? I don’t find water boring, in the same way that I don’t find air boring.
To me this is kind of like someone spraying perfume every time they breathe in so they can breathe somethi
u/Tay74
Liquid literally *does* equal hydration, at least in terms of most available drinks. Water might be the most hydration, due to having the most water per ml, but coffee, tea, fruit juice, soda
u/AmberCarpes
It’s me! I hate it. I love fruits and vegetables and I don’t like sugary drinks but I hate drinking plain water. Lemon water? Yes. Unsweetened tea? Yes. Cucumber water? Yes!
I eat so health
u/LoverlyRails
My mother raised me on sweet tea and kool aid. At school, I got milk. No one I knew drank water.
u/LoverlyRails
I didn't personally know anyone who drank plain water, instead of a cup of other liquids- when I was growing up.
I know many people that do it now tho.
I did know several people who gave t
u/BigToober69
I was born 88 so I just missed that. Water was considered the best drink for me I think. I also got taught the food pyramid tho. And I remember water bottles seeming stupid at first for sure.
u/spandexcatsuit
I’m probably older than you. I drank water well before the 80s, so did most people I knew. It was the unhealthy, less traveled people in the 80s and 90s who were somehow uninterested in givin
u/ApprehensiveOwl7123
Answer: The more unhealthy drinks a person consumes, their taste buds change and water becomes unpalatable and bland.
u/Gigs00
Answer: Everyone finds water boring. They drink it because they should, have developed it as a habit, or they are thirsty.
If you can't figure out why anyone thinks water is boring, perhaps
u/uhvarlly_BigMouth
Yeah, no. Water takes away my thirst in a different way than any other drink does. It’s not boring because it’s like scratching an itch, or like eating when hungry or like taking a massive sh
u/daitoshi
Food is essential. If you eat any other food aside from plain unsalted crackers, OP will bully u for being unhealthy and wanting “strong flavors” and “sugar” instead of JUST your essential nu
u/Big_Fo_Fo
Ice water changed it for me, I used to be like your coworker.
u/SecondStringSteve
Answer: as my coworker said once, “I need taste”.
I don’t get it but all the beverages out there has fooled people into thinking that liquid = hydration.
I swear… in 33 years of living, I’v
u/gordonf23
There was this one time I thought I was wrong, but i turned out to be mistaken.
u/Scyllascum
Man I love water, I’d choose water over alcoholic beverages or sodas any day tbh
u/LoverlyRails
I grew up in poverty in South Carolina in the 80s. That probably explains a lot of it.
u/nrazberry
Answer: I absolutely love water, but I have friends who are well informed and eat and drink healthily otherwise, but just really find drinking water to be difficult and a slog. It’s not enjoy
u/Char_siu_for_you
We weren’t allowed soda. I was like 14ish when I got my first job and just went bonkers on soda. It’s never stopped. I drink plenty of water, but still drink about 4 cans a day as I’ve cut do
u/spandexcatsuit
Answer: people get brought up with unhealthy habits (like only drinking sweet beverages) & don’t know how nice regular filtered water is. Then they have kids and the cycle repeats. Over t
u/dabeeman
answer: as Oscar Wilde said “fish fuck in it”.
u/PrinceTrollestia
Let’s just pretend in this case, you have a choice of eating a normal meal to satiate your hunger, or only eating crackers.
Most people would prefer to have a normal meal because it has fla
u/ctrlrgsm
Weird comparison, crackers, unlike water and air, aren’t essential for survival
u/thedisorient
Answer: Water in some places tastes weird because of minerals in the groundwater or in the pipes themselves. I lived in a trailer park once where the pipes were made of clay, so the water tas
u/QuirkyPlace4647
Answer: Personally, I don't hate water, but my throat will literally close up after a few sips when I try to drink it plain. Sometimes, drinking it will also make me feel nauseous. I can tast
u/InquisitiveMind997
Yeah, 80s kid here, and no one in my immediate family drinks water.
u/OzzieTF2
We are like that in my family as well. At work, however, it is crazy to me to see people get a bottle of water and mix some powder in it because that never got used to drinking actual water.
u/Evinceo
Air is boring, gotta be pot smoke every single inhale.
u/daitoshi
Maybe for YOU.
The water at my childhood home rocked (spring-fed well hell yeah!) and EVERY water since then tastes disgusting.
Like chalk or like pool water, thick with chlorine tang, or
u/Dimos357
I was one of these kids. I drank milk all through my childhood or juice. Only time I drank water was at school from the community fountain. You just sucked it up and pray no one was kissing o
u/Constellation-88
Answer: I never loved the taste of water. I got used to it after being dehydrated and getting heat exhaustion, but water by itself has no strong and pleasant flavor while having a slightly co
u/Schuben
It's not that you're not hydrating, it's that you're putting so much other unhealthy things in your body along with it. People claiming that water is better because it's not mixed with somet
u/MagentaTrisomes
That's a strange comparison.
u/tugboatnavy
Everyone? Nah.
Ice cold water on a hot thirsty mouth is sublime. Like, it makes me believe in God and the beauty of the universe. It reminds me that water is a life giving miracle and it's t
u/InquisitiveMind997
Answer: I never drink water, ever, unless it’s scorching hot, and I’m desperately thirsty. I never have, in my life; I hate water, it’s gross and boring. I’ve tried additives but can’t stic
u/dabeeman
oh shoot you are right.
u/PrinceTrollestia
That’s the thing that has been mentioned in responses higher up. People expect a drink to have flavor, and find the “taste” of water (or lack thereof) gross.
Think of it this way—how do you
u/Blenderhead36
As someone who drinks a ton of sweet drinks, I still want a glass of water when it's hot, in the middle of the night, etcetera.
u/gordonf23
W.C. Fields. But I'd rather it was Oscar Wilde, tbh.
u/BigToober69
90s for me in Wisconsin suburban upbringing. Yeah someone else also just told me about how much other drinks were pushed in the 80s too.
u/MarkEsmiths
Facts. Food too and it can spiral.
u/BigToober69
No one you knew? Must by hyperbole right?
u/spandexcatsuit
I sometimes add electrolytes to prevent or treat migraine. It comes in a packet.
u/RhinoJew
I’ve heard several people say they need taste as well, but thankfully I’m immune to it as I never liked soda despite literally everyone around me loving it.
u/Sir_Ruje
And you wouldn't want to hear what the dolphins do in it!
u/android_queen
I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just the “unhealthy, less traveled people.” Milk at every meal for kids was considered healthy in the 80s. Just like low fat in the 90s, regardless of sugar content.
u/BigToober69
Just a different life experience then. I do believe you. I only knew one person growing up who didn't drink water. Drank a lot of sunny d.
u/DasGaufre
I usually use a refillable bottle at work, and the first time my boss sees me chugging out of it, he asks me what I'm drinking. He was absolutely bewildered when I said it's just water and I