Water does not have a flavor you remember. It does not leave an impression. It is not the dish people talk about at the end of the evening. It is always there in the background, taken for granted, and perhaps that is exactly why it is one of the most overlooked habits in the whole Mediterranean way of eating.

And yet the body is about 60% water. The brain about 75%. Blood almost 90%. Every metabolic process, every chemical reaction, every movement of nutrients across cell membranes depends on adequate hydration. When water is lacking — even slightly, even before you consciously feel thirsty — concentration can drop, digestion can slow and the sensation of hunger can increase. Some of the mid-morning or mid-afternoon hunger that ends with a snack could be answered just as well by a glass of water. The body can confuse the two signals.

There is no universal amount that works for everyone. It depends on body weight, physical activity, the season and the type of diet. The most common rule of thumb — about two liters a day for an adult — is a reasonable reference for a sedentary person in normal conditions. People who sweat more, exercise, or eat little fruit and vegetables may need more. The most useful thing to observe is not the number of glasses you drink, but the color of your urine: pale or nearly clear usually means good hydration; dark yellow usually means you are drinking too little.

Tap water deserves a few words of its own.

In Italy, tap water is among the most closely monitored and safest in Europe. It is tested continuously — more than any bottled water — and has to comply with some of the strictest chemical and microbiological standards in the world. The distrust many people feel toward it is not based on data. It is based on perception, habit and a market that has every interest in making water sold in plastic feel superior.

The limescale that settles at the bottom of a pot or inside an appliance is calcium and magnesium — minerals the body knows perfectly well and uses. They are not foreign substances. Your body is not a washing machine: it does not build up scale and it does not “clog.” Calcium dissolved in water is bioavailable just like calcium in food. Drinking hard water is not harmful; in areas where water is particularly rich in calcium, it can actually contribute to daily intake of the mineral.

Choosing tap water when your local authority declares it safe to drink — as is the case in most Italian municipalities — also means choosing not to buy, transport and dispose of plastic bottles. Around ten billion plastic bottles are consumed in Italy every year. The environmental impact is real, measurable and avoidable. Drinking tap water is one of those choices that costs nothing and still counts for something.

What else can you drink besides water?

Herbal teas and infusions — without added sugar — count fully toward hydration, with the added contribution of some of the plant compounds they contain. Green and black tea provide polyphenols with documented antioxidant activity. Coffee, when consumed in moderate amounts, around two or three cups a day, does not dehydrate you in the way many people think: caffeine's diuretic effect is modest and is more than offset by the water in the drink itself.

And what about liquid indulgences?

If a glass of wine or a beer is part of the way you enjoy a meal, that is a personal fact that belongs to your life — not a variable an article can regulate for you. What is worth knowing is that alcohol does not hydrate you. It does the opposite, interfering with water reabsorption in the kidneys. If you drink alcohol, drink water alongside it. And drink it because you enjoy it — not as compensation for a difficult day, not as an automatic mechanism, not as a habit that installed itself without you ever really choosing it.

Sugar-free drinks — cola, orange soda, tonic water in zero-sugar versions — exist, they are not poisons, and for some people they are a way to satisfy the desire for something other than water without adding sugar. They are not ideal as the foundation of a daily habit, but they are not the main problem for someone whose overall diet is reasonably good. The hierarchy is simple: water first, everything else after.

Hydrating well is not complicated. It is simply a habit you build — one glass at a time, before meals, throughout the morning, at the moment when you think you are hungry and it may actually be thirst.

The frameworks and combinations suggested in this article are practical ideas for putting meals together, not personalized medical or nutritional advice. For quantities suited to your own needs, or if you have a medical condition, a particular health situation or specific requirements, speak to your doctor or a qualified nutrition professional.