Lack of Hydration...is it me?

DH and I have noticed that overall the English drink less fluids than we do...Okay, so I've only been here 2 weeks, but it seems that way to me!  When out at restaurants and pubs, it's almost weird to order a refill on your soda, but it's more than accepted to have more than one pint.  DH and I made it a habit to drink at least 6-12 oz. bottles of water per day!  It's really challenging to do that here!

I drink a lot of tea.

I drink a lot of tea.

Which doesn't really hydrate you!!

Yes, I know what you mean though. My inlaws personify this. My FIL only drinks tea, coffee, and the occasional teeny tiny glass of juice. You can tell the man is dehydrated. MIL isn't much better. My 2 BILs are much the same but oddly my DH is a huge water drinker. He won't leave the house without a bottle.

Refills are just not part of the restaurant culture here.

Which doesn't really hydrate you!!

And neither does soda! 

I've never been a big drinker, so I'm fine with it. My bf does drink a ton of water, though. If I am in a restaurant or pub and am very thirsty, I just ask for a big pint glass of water with ice. And it's not too difficult to ask them to refill it when you want more.

I noticed that when I was working.  My British colleagues drank tea or soda.  I had a large plastic cup with a lid and I always refilled it at least four times a day.

Which doesn't really hydrate you!!

Actually, studies have been this way and that when it comes to tea.

I never drink fizzy juice.

I ALWAYS take a bottle of water, everywhere I go, and when the weather's nice, or perhaps a bit warm even??, I take one of those 7-11 type mugs, 64 oz, and fill it with lemonade, (real), or kool-aid, or something else thirst quenching, and pack it full of ice first. Being as I walk a lot, I get quite a few comments on that thing!!

I don't think one can generalise on this - "US people keep better hydrated than UK people".  My Brit husband is the one who always drinks water all day long, along with tea & coffee, whereas I probably don't drink 1 litre of liquid, all told, unless I try real hard.  I'm in a constant state of dehydration, and I know it.  Problem is, the only thing I seem to be able to drink large quantities of is ale...

Outwith a restaurant situation I don't think Americans drink any more than British people in general.

I don't know.  We sell a LOT of water at work.  Although, I'd say it's the Spanish students and the Chinese students who don't seem to buy much water.

Speaking from my work experience monitoring invasive pressures and all that, British people don't come in dehydrated unless they have been unwell, just the same as Americans would.  Many studies (I don't read them all, I'm sure there are others out there that would say the opposite) say that drinking tea and coffee does hydrate you.  Yes it has caffeine which acts as a diuretic, but if you are accustomed to drinking it, doesn't dehydrate you. 

I noticed that when I was working.  My British colleagues drank tea or soda.  I had a large plastic cup with a lid and I always refilled it at least four times a day.

For me its the opposite, I don't drink enough water but I notice my colllegues are always at the water cooler filling their cups (in between tea and coffee). It always make me think I really should drink more water but I really only like it with ice (the colder the better).

I find I drink less water now that I'm not in an air conditioned office all day. I tend to drink juice more than anything now.

I don't drink nearly as much water as is normally recommended (six to eight eight-ounce glasses a day), but I'm working on it. I'm usually dehydrated.

I don't think british people are less hydrated on the whole than Americans, but they don't seem to drink much with meals at all. I've eaten in four or five different British private homes for dinner, and in each case there weren't any drinks served with the food, except for wine once.  However, people tended to drink juice/water after they had eaten their meal.  I'm used to drinking a lot with meals so it's something I've had to get used to- I know now to ask for a drink before dinner if I want one.