“Drinking water with food makes your belly grow bigger meme
I am pretty sure that many people have heard that “Drinking water with food makes your belly grow bigger.” This meme has been in society for a very long time. As for me, I came across the meme in the countryside. I was staying with my grandparents. It was one hot day that they noticed my tendency to drink a lot of water immediately before and after meals. “Careful with the amount of water you’ve taken today, you’ll start getting ugly with a fat belly.” said my granny. I was sixteen years old at that time. At first, the caution of my granny did not puzzle me. The next time I was taking water, the words of my granny re-echoed in my ears. I did not take a lot of water in comparison to the previous time. I went on to find out the reality about the meme. As a teenager, my first step was to ask my peers. Our first assignment was to ask their parents if drinking too much water makes the belly grow more prominent.
Each time that I tried to take water, I kept remembering the words of my granny. I gradually became anxious and worried about my behaviour about drinking water. I tried to downplay the caution, but it kept coming back to me. As a teenager, I grew up knowing that having a fat belly is like a curse. We grew up ridiculing those neighbours and passersby with fat bellies. I stopped drinking water for some time to find out about the authenticity of the meme. The curiosity in me forced that I do more research. I knew that the meme was real when I typically changed my drinking water behaviour. I asked my granny about it, and she sent me to do my research. I found out that the meme cnot have an authentic origin. The typical definition of a meme is a culture of a practice that passes from one generation to the other without genetic inheritance. The form of heritage is mainly through imitation. “Drinking water with food makes your bellies grow bigger.” as a meme is believable because one will always feel a heavy stomach.
My first encounter with memes is from the above narration. Memes are not just words; they come in the form of fashion, cultures and practices. These forms of memes, like genes, move from one generation to generation via imitation (Atran, 2010). The impression is the work of the brain by human beings, and it utilizes the five senses of the human body. Another source of this meme is from the health line. The source claims that the meme is a myth. One must first find out its truthfulness. The meme refers to a vital aspect of human life; digestion. Believing in the meme means that one has to understand metabolism as a process. The source finally shows that drinking water does not affect the digestive system. It, therefore, demystifies the meme.
Practices that keep on recurring in various generations or across different classes of people are memes in other terms. Imitation plays a significant role in the spreading of memes. Many people make memes spread because people do what they see, hear or observe from others. It, therefore, means that the primary agents of spreading memes are human beings. The meme about fat belly as a result of drinking water during meals is likely to be covered by children. In my case, for example, my granny warned me about drinking too much water during meals. She meant to control the amount of water I was drinking. Going ahead to ask my friends about it was already a means of spreading the meme. Children are the agents likely to spread memes because they do not try to find the truth and originality in a meme (Jure et al., 2017). If they hear something, they are likely to believe it with no doubts. In my teenage, I was not able to figure out how to substantiate what my granny told me. Otherwise, I would have done my private research to ascertain the meme. The meme, therefore, spread from me to my friends, and the chain continued. Memes are mainly spread by children or unsuspecting victims of such.
The meme technically originates from the medical field. However, the meme is not literal as it has been in existence. Instead, it is a result of misinterpretation of the prescriptions by the doctor. Human science says that drinking too much water with food is not suitable for digestion. The implication here is that just a little rain does not harm the absorption (Jeong, 2018). The suggestion that having water during meals makes fat belly technically shows that digestion stops. This implication is to the right. Drinking water while eating suggests that metabolism in the stomach slows down. To me, it implies that the stomach will bloat instead of fattening the belly. The meme is, therefore, a result of misinformation since it omitted the crucial words “too much”.
Generally, memes are part of human socialization which is challenging to understand. Since they are part of human socialization, they must be coming from a source that exists within the society. My research led me to the conclusion; the meme is false. I arrive at this conclusion because my study does not find the origin of the meme from any sources. Instead, some sources refute the meme. By discrediting, it means that these sources that the sources give a different version of the meme. Having come from a medical set up, the refuting findings are reliable. Research shows that drinking water during meals cannot stop digestion. In facts, some experts explain that small sips during meals help in lubrication and moistening of the gut. These sources are from trusted and reliable origins. “Drinking water with food makes your belly grow
bigger.” is a famous meme across many generations. The meme is not true
because it does not have an origin or any reliable sources. The evident and
existential proof is the drinking of too much water.
I trust my sources because of numerous reasons. First,
they give an explicit explanation from professionals in different fields. The
references are from medical fields, and they also cite and illustrate the
sources of their information. It is uncommon for publishers in such areas to
circulate unverified information. Secondly, the authors of both sources have
their academic and career backgrounds stated and available from other sources.
The sources additionally, prove more reliable because there are no sources to
refute them. In a nutshell, my sources are correct and dependable because they
come from professionals, and they are meant to give medical solutions – a
sombre topic. Taking this into consideration, it is good to know and
substantiate the origin of such a meme because it touches on an essential part
of human life (Daniels & Popkin, 2010). There are numerous things around us
that we can use to create humour. Human life is not a good example in this
case. The meme “Drinking water with food makes your belly grow
bigger.” is quite misleading and can make people live unhealthy lives. The
central concept behind memes is to have a collective identity and for
continuity of a generation. These reasons show why our subject meme continued
to spread even if it is incorrect. It is good to enjoy memes, but it is better
to know its origin and whether it is correct.