SC - Is drinking water "period"

[CBlackwill at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/15/00 9:51:54 PM Pacific Daylight Time, LrdRas at aol.com 
writes:

> After reading the extant menus that we have access to in the modern world, 
II 
> 
>  offer the opinion that water is not listed as a feast beverage and 
therefore 
> 
>  is inappropriate given the material we have with which to make an opinion.
>  
>  Ras

Water was widely considered to be unhealthy, so may not have been consumed 
straight, but was very, very often (almost always) mixed with wine for 
eclesiastic as well as practical reasons.  Even medieval cooks knew that 
alcohol deprived the body of water, and so diluted it to help replenish the 
body's supply and rehydrate it.

There are, I believe, reference to rather monastic and hermetic types who 
did, however, consume plain water and raw vegetables in a "natural" diet.

Such a strange fascination, as I wallow in waste
That such a trivial victory could put a smile on your face.
                                        - Mark Burgess