The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[RingTailedLemur]

Has anyone else ever gone to law (or grad) school and finally "hit the wall", so to speak, of feeling genuinely stupid? I get the material we're covering in class. I did well on my midterm, but legal writing is killing me. My professor probably thinks that I'm unteachable at this point. I've also heard that a lot of people start out their first year feeling this way, but right now I'm having to force myself through another memo that I'll be embarrassed to turn in. I feel like putting a disclaimer or attaching a copy of my LSAT score to try and prove that I am not as stupid as the words I've strung together on the page.

I went though the same thing at uni.  It's okay, it's certainly not uncommon and you will be just fine.  Just keep plodding along until you break through.

Is there any way an older student could guve you some extra tuition or something, to get your confidence up?

[Elfmama]

Does drinking water with meals or to take pills somehow "dilute" the food or medication?  DH will only take a sip of water to take his medication, even though the directions on the bottle say to take with at least 8 ounces of water.  He says that he was taught that too much water dilutes the medication.  (Yet more Pearls of Wisdom from MIL, no doubt. )

Similarly, I have relatives who say that you should never drink water with meals because it dilutes the food.

This seems like nonsense to me.  If you eat 100 calories of food, or 40mg of medication, it's still 100 calories or 40mg, right?  No matter how much water you do or do not drink with it.
 
Now if the med is a liquid and you are supposed to take 1 teaspoon, but instead you mix it half and half with water and then take 1 teaspoon, that's diluting it.

[ladyknight1]

Does drinking water with meals or to take pills somehow "dilute" the food or medication?  DH will only take a sip of water to take his medication, even though the directions on the bottle say to take with at least 8 ounces of water.  He says that he was taught that too much water dilutes the medication.  (Yet more Pearls of Wisdom from MIL, no doubt. )

Similarly, I have relatives who say that you should never drink water with meals because it dilutes the food.

This seems like nonsense to me.  If you eat 100 calories of food, or 40mg of medication, it's still 100 calories or 40mg, right?  No matter how much water you do or do not drink with it.
 
Now if the med is a liquid and you are supposed to take 1 teaspoon, but instead you mix it half and half with water and then take 1 teaspoon, that's diluting it.

I have never heard the dilution theory before your post, but I have read a few articles about too much water or any beverage during meals can interfere with proper digestion, due to diluting the enzymes and other chemicals in the intestinal tract.

[LadyJaneinMD]

Some "natural" or organic peanut butters, and most other nut butters, do keep better when refrigerated.  The commercial ones are homogenized enough it's not necessary.

I've kept commercial peanut butter in the cupboard for YEARS and have never had it go bad or rancid on me.

Yet.

[exitzero]

Does drinking water with meals or to take pills somehow "dilute" the food or medication?  DH will only take a sip of water to take his medication, even though the directions on the bottle say to take with at least 8 ounces of water.  He says that he was taught that too much water dilutes the medication.  (Yet more Pearls of Wisdom from MIL, no doubt. )

Similarly, I have relatives who say that you should never drink water with meals because it dilutes the food.

This seems like nonsense to me.  If you eat 100 calories of food, or 40mg of medication, it's still 100 calories or 40mg, right?  No matter how much water you do or do not drink with it.
 
Now if the med is a liquid and you are supposed to take 1 teaspoon, but instead you mix it half and half with water and then take 1 teaspoon, that's diluting it.

I have never heard the dilution theory before your post, but I have read a few articles about too much water or any beverage during meals can interfere with proper digestion, due to diluting the enzymes and other chemicals in the intestinal tract.

I saw a doctor on TV once say that while drinking water with a meal, may dilute the vitamins a tiny bit, it's negligible. Better to dilute a little bit than choke on something you are eating, or feel uncomfortable eating it.

[ladyknight1]

In the articles I mentioned above, it was drinking copious amounts of liquids while eating that was the issue. The recommended amount was less than 8 oz of water.

[EmmaJ.]

If the medication directions say to take with xx amount of water, please encourage your husband to do so.  The water moves the pill to the stomach before dissolving - otherwise it may begin dissolving in the esophagus which may cause irritation or ulceration.

[violinp]

Does drinking water with meals or to take pills somehow "dilute" the food or medication?  DH will only take a sip of water to take his medication, even though the directions on the bottle say to take with at least 8 ounces of water.  He says that he was taught that too much water dilutes the medication.  (Yet more Pearls of Wisdom from MIL, no doubt. )

Similarly, I have relatives who say that you should never drink water with meals because it dilutes the food.

This seems like nonsense to me.  If you eat 100 calories of food, or 40mg of medication, it's still 100 calories or 40mg, right?  No matter how much water you do or do not drink with it.
 
Now if the med is a liquid and you are supposed to take 1 teaspoon, but instead you mix it half and half with water and then take 1 teaspoon, that's diluting it.

I agree with you. Moreover, if you don't take a full glass of water with some meds, you can end up feeling very dehydrated - Benadryl and NyQuil are ones I can think of off the top of my head.

[Virg]

Elfmama wrote:

"DH will only take a sip of water to take his medication, even though the directions on the bottle say to take with at least 8 ounces of water.  He says that he was taught that too much water dilutes the medication."

Even if it was true (it's not), the instructions say to take the meds with 8 ounces of water so did it ever cross his mind that it's supposed to work that way?  If he believes that the water dilutes the medication, then by taking the medication without the instructed water he's overdosing.  Therefore, no matter what he thinks about dilution, failing to follow the instructions is foolish.

"Similarly, I have relatives who say that you should never drink water with meals because it dilutes the food."

This is simply nonsensical.  To wit, even if it's true (it not in this case either), why does it matter that your food is "diluted"?  Perhaps an argument could be made that you could drink too much and therefore not want to eat enough to get proper nutrition, but you'd have to eat some pretty calorie-sparse stuff to run out of room before you could get enough nutrition to live.  After all, whether you eat a hamburger with no water or with a quart of water, as long as you eat the whole burger it's all inside to be digested.

Virg

[sevenday]

I tried the sip thing with a medication once and felt pretty darn icky afterward.  Took the next dose with 8 oz of water (okay, apple juice, but still) as instructed, and no problems.  Medications go through trials to determine how best to deliver it with minimal side effects.  Take with food, etc.  I follow these instructions unless my doctor tells me otherwise.  As others have said, the amount of water/food has a purpose, either to help move medicine, to dilute it properly, to protect the stomach, etc.  I don't advocate blindly following doctors' advice (doctors are human after all) but in the case of medication, what they say goes.  If I have problems following the indications, I call the doctor and ask "Can I do x or Y instead?"  Haven't needed to yet though.

[artk2002]

Does drinking water with meals or to take pills somehow "dilute" the food or medication?  DH will only take a sip of water to take his medication, even though the directions on the bottle say to take with at least 8 ounces of water.  He says that he was taught that too much water dilutes the medication.  (Yet more Pearls of Wisdom from MIL, no doubt. )

Similarly, I have relatives who say that you should never drink water with meals because it dilutes the food.

This seems like nonsense to me.  If you eat 100 calories of food, or 40mg of medication, it's still 100 calories or 40mg, right?  No matter how much water you do or do not drink with it.

It is nonsense. The same amount of food or medication makes it into your blood stream no matter what. Will your relatives drink anything other than water with a meal?

[Coruscation]

Does drinking water with meals or to take pills somehow "dilute" the food or medication?  DH will only take a sip of water to take his medication, even though the directions on the bottle say to take with at least 8 ounces of water.  He says that he was taught that too much water dilutes the medication.  (Yet more Pearls of Wisdom from MIL, no doubt. )

Similarly, I have relatives who say that you should never drink water with meals because it dilutes the food.

This seems like nonsense to me.  If you eat 100 calories of food, or 40mg of medication, it's still 100 calories or 40mg, right?  No matter how much water you do or do not drink with it.
 
Now if the med is a liquid and you are supposed to take 1 teaspoon, but instead you mix it half and half with water and then take 1 teaspoon, that's diluting it.

They have actually shown that taking water with food helps slow down the absorption. Specifically, if you are dieting, a meal of a piece of chicken, one cup of water and X amount of vegtables clears the stomach much more quickly than a stew made from the same thing, leaving you hungry sooner. I've always assumed that is part of the reason you should take medication with food or drink, the other being to protect your stomach lining from direct contact with the drug. So I guess it dilutes it in the same way that water dilutes cordial base. The same amount of drug gets into your system, with fewer side effects and possibly over a longer time, which is desirable.

[jpcher]

Certain meds need to be taken with food/liquids ("to protect your stomach lining from direct contact") This should be clearly marked on the prescription bottle.

With other meds, like specific throat-soothing cough syrups or lozenges, water will dilute the effect.

Not all meds are equal.

It comes down to following the instructions on the medication.

[Carotte]

Why is there so much disparity between cooking time for Chili con carne?
I was looking at recipes online because I forgot how long my mom cooks it ( and I offered to make it for my bf ) and it goes from 20min to 8hours in a slowcooker, yet most have the same ingredients and preparation.
For what it's worth we use caned whole skinned tomatoes and canned beans and I think we cook it for 2 hours.
I don't think I'll have two hours tomorrow so was wondering if I could halve the cooking time.

[CakeBeret]

Why is there so much disparity between cooking time for Chili con carne?

Different people have different interpretations of what "cooked" is when it comes to chili.

Some people consider "heated through" to be cooked. Others believe that a longer cooking time is important for the flavors to meld. My brother in law considers chili cooked for less than four hours to be "raw". I prefer to cook mine for several hours in a crock pot, but I also don't object to cooking it for thirty minutes on the stovetop. So as long as your chili gets hot all the way through, halving your cooking time should be adequate.