Can I drink with meals? This question was probably asked by many. Let's try to figure it out.
Important processes to be aware of
Our body performs a number of processes during eating and digestion. Therefore, in order to decide whether to drink water while eating, it is important to understand and take into account each of them.
- A lot of saliva is produced in the mouth while eating, as it contains digestive enzymes that help break down food. They are very important in promoting a healthy digestive process.
- Our stomachs contain gastric juice, which aids in digestion and helps kill bacteria that may come in through food. It is important for this juice to function properly as it helps break down food and allows the stomach to contract and “grind” food into a state that allows it to move through the small intestine.
- The nutrients from the foods we eat are transferred through the bloodstream to the liver, from where they are distributed to different parts of the body. The liver requires enough water to function and do its job properly.
To drink or not to drink?
The answers to this question are mixed. There are different opinions on this matter. The main focus of the discussion is the question: "Drinking water while eating - is it harmful or beneficial for the digestive process?" There is no doubt that drinking too much water with meals can interfere with natural and necessary levels of bile and stomach acid. This will slow down the digestion process and reduce the body's ability to produce enough digestive enzymes to digest food properly. Without proper digestion, accumulation of toxic waste can occur no matter what you eat. The same applies to other drinks that we might consume during our meal. Alcoholic and sugary carbonated drinks dry up saliva, making it even more difficult to digest food properly. Cold drinking water or other beverages slow down digestion and can create cramping in some people.
It is no secret that drinking water before and after a meal improves the digestion process. The general consensus is that by drinking water about half an hour before meals, we protect our bodies from dehydration, which promotes optimal digestion. This is equally important for the liver, which means that we help its optimal work. Drinking water thirty minutes after a meal can also help hydrate the body and replenish lost fluids during digestion. It is important to note that if you are dehydrated, it is better to drink water with meals than not to drink, as this can make it very difficult for your body to digest food.
The other side of the coin
It's also important to note that there is absolutely no concern whatsoever that the water will dilute digestive juices or interfere with digestion, according to Dr. Michael Picco of the Mayo Clinic. In fact, it aids digestion during or after meals. Water and other fluids help break down food, allowing the body to absorb nutrients. Water also softens stools, which in turn helps prevent problems like constipation. So far, the clinic staff makes no mention of the temperature or the amount of water, but they are obviously confident that drinking with meals is generally okay.
Based on the information provided, we can apply a few tips. It seems most important to stay hydrated throughout the day. And if you must drink with meals, don't drink too much, and also cut out alcohol and acidic drinks. Drink warm water in moderation. A small glass will most likely not interfere with digestion, and adding a little lemon can help that process. If possible, try to drink half an hour before and half an hour after meals, and do not drink during meals. Observe how you feel. And if it works for you in a positive way, then stick to it, and if not, adjust accordingly.
Listen to your body. Sometimes what he feels and wants is more important than strict adherence to the rules.
Together with a gastroenterologist and a nutritionist, we answer a question that has long worried everyone who is trying to lose weight.
We have already told you more than once what valuable properties water has; figured out how much clean water you really need to drink per day (not two liters at all); Is melt water really as good as everyone is talking about (it turned out not), and how much water you need to drink before, during and after workouts to avoid dehydration. Now we decided to find out if it is possible to drink water during and after meals.
The myths that drinking water during and after meals somehow harms digestion and promotes weight gain are not scientifically supported in any way. Until now, scientists have not conducted any research that would once and for all put an end to this issue.
Alexey Paramonov
gastroenterologist, candidate of medical sciencesThe fact that drinking water during and after meals is harmful is popular belief, which is argued in different ways. The basic idea is this: gastric juice becomes less concentrated and this, in turn, disrupts digestion. Sometimes this is somehow associated with weight gain or loss. In fact, all this is fantasy. Such studies have never been carried out by anyone because of their meaninglessness, and it is unrealistic to dilute gastric and pancreatic juice so that it stops working. The body is a self-regulating feedback system: if there are not enough enzymes and acids in the digestive juices, an additional portion will be produced immediately. For medicine, this issue was closed almost 100 years ago thanks to the experiments of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. However, such discussions regularly arise in the context of various diets and nutrition systems that are far beyond the boundaries of the scientific field.
Drinking water during and after meals even has some benefits. First, it improves digestion. Water helps break down food - when ground, it is better and easier to transport through the entire digestive tract. Secondly, water helps to break down food so that the body can better absorb all the nutrients. Third, water softens stools and prevents constipation. Finally, water helps control appetite after a meal. For example, after a light dinner, you can remain hungry and inadvertently (well, how else) eat dessert. Water will create a feeling of fullness, which will help you keep from the extra portion. But the body of each person is individual and has its own characteristics. Therefore, there are no universal rules here, whether or not you can drink water during or after a meal - learn to listen to your body and body.
Natalia Fadeeva
nutritionist-endocrinologist, candidate of medical sciences, weight loss expertIt is undesirable to drink water immediately before meals, especially in large quantities. Digestive juices begin to reflexively stand out in anticipation of food 10-15 minutes before eating food for its smell, visual stimuli; this prepares the digestive tract for the digestion process. A large number of water during this period will wash away all digestive juices, and digestion will be difficult. As for drinking dry food, it is useful - a lump of food forms in the stomach, and if the food is very dry, it also complicates the digestive process. Moistening dry food allows gastric juices and digestive enzymes to process it more easily. Water is very quickly evacuated from the stomach - within five minutes, so all excess liquid that is not needed to soak the food lump will go away very quickly.
There is practically no consensus about whether it is possible to drink after meals - this should be decided individually. The usual reasoning about what to drink after eating in no case, since it interferes with digestion, is far from the truth, there are foods that are digested for a very long time, for example red meat - up to 5-6 hours. The desire to drink after a meal and the need for fluid intake also depends on the consistency of the food (liquid, dry, thick) - if you ate soup or dined on a liquid green smoothie that is now fashionable, or ate juicy fruits, you are unlikely to immediately want to drink such food. Also, thirst depends on the quality of food, on its salinity - usually you want to drink very sweet or salty food to dilute the concentration - and on the presence of chronic gastrointestinal diseases. For example, with a hyperactive intestine, a glass cold water can accelerate the movement of the food bolus and its evacuation, and therefore impair the absorption of nutrients. A glass of warm water or a hot drink with lazy intestines can contribute to its relaxation, some congestion, a feeling of heaviness, constipation. It is important to listen to your body and understand: in which case you feel the best, active and easiest.
Many people know that you should not drink water or other liquids while eating. However, not all people follow this rule, perhaps because they do not fully know and understand how the digestion process takes place in the body. So why water and others
Many people know that you should not drink water or other liquids while eating. However, not all people follow this rule, perhaps because they do not fully know and understand how the digestion process takes place in the body.
So why shouldn't you drink water and other liquids with meals? For how long before and after meals should you refrain from taking fluids? Why should you wait before drinking tea?
How does the digestion process take place?
Probably, many more from the biology course of the school curriculum remember that even such food as mashed potatoes or semolina should be kept in your mouth, moistened with saliva and chewed. And why it is necessary to do this, most have already forgotten, and now what has already been crushed is hastily swallowed, and coarse food is badly chewed.
In fact, the process of digesting food begins already in the mouth, when chewing. Already in the mouth, the nutrients contained in food begin to be absorbed by contact with saliva.
So how does the digestion process take place? Nutrients in food begin to be broken down and absorbed when they come into contact with saliva in the mouth. Saliva has another function, which is to provide food for easy passage through the esophagus. People, when they feel that it is difficult to swallow dry food, begin to wash it down with water. This categorically cannot be done, since this is how you violate the digestion process - those enzymes that are secreted in the mouth are not secreted in the stomach. In addition, when drinking food, you spend less time chewing food, as a result of this, large pieces of food enter the stomach, which are difficult to digest.
What other reasons are there for chewing food well?
The mouth contains receptors for appetite and food recognition. After all, it so happens that you feel that your stomach is full, but you still want to eat. This happens then, a person chews food badly. Thus, it turns out that thoroughly chewing food relieves overeating and gives moderation in food.
Perhaps not everyone will be impressed by the fact that food is less digestible when chewed poorly. Then you should think about the following: some experts believe that the reason for the appearance of gray hair is not the aging process, but poor absorption in the stomach and intestines. nutrients... In youth, the body somehow copes with this, but it cannot continue for so long and, as a result, with the pollution of the digestive system, this factor leads to the fact that the body is deficient in nutrients.
How to learn to chew food well?
Many people have a habit of reading or watching a movie, news, or favorite show while eating. Some, not wanting to be distracted, even combine it with work. Of course, this habit is both harmful and wrong in itself. However, it is also harmful because food absorption begins to occur in the "autopilot" mode. This suggests that even if you realized that you need to chew food thoroughly, and decided to do just that, then on the machine you continue to chew it just as before. Therefore, you should not distract your attention from this process while eating. Until you have learned how to chew food correctly, it is better not to distract yourself with such an activity that grabs attention.
American naturopath G. Shelton, in order to teach a child to chew properly from early childhood, recommends excluding mashed potatoes and liquid cereals from the diet. Children need to be given solid food - pieces of vegetables and fruits. If the child is not able to chew food, then you need to wait.
Older children need to be explained that they need to chew so that after that the pieces of food are crushed to a state of gruel.
When is it right to drink water?
Water should not be drunk not only during meals, but also immediately before and after meals. Gastric juice is dissolved by water, and it also leaves the stomach earlier than food, and carries with it the enzymes necessary for digestion. Drink water at least 10 minutes before meals.
How long can I have a drink? It depends on the food eaten. If you ate fruit - after about 30 minutes, but not earlier, after vegetables - after about an hour, after carbohydrates - after 1.5 - 2 hours, after protein food even longer - after 4 hours.
It turns out that the tradition of drinking tea is very harmful and contradicts two points at once. healthy eating: you can not drink liquids while eating and can not be immediately after eating. If you suddenly feel thirsty and difficult to endure for so long, you still need to wait, at least an hour.
What is fashionable to help digestion?
There are foods that are much better absorbed if they are soaked in water for a while before eating. For example seeds, nuts, some cereals. In order for them not to begin to germinate until they are in the ground, nature has provided for a protective mechanism: they contain growth inhibitors that prevent this process. But if the seed is moistened with water, then the inhibitors go into the water, and biological processes begin in the seed. It turns out that soaked nuts and seeds are absorbed several times faster, they contain more nutrients... This rule also applies to cereals. But, of course, you still have to chew them thoroughly. This is especially true for small seeds (flax, sesame, etc.), if you swallow them whole, they will not be absorbed at all.
Drinking includes water, tea, coffee, and other beverages. Milk is not a drink, it is food, but it is also recommended to drink it separately. This is due to the fact that water leaves the stomach 10 minutes after it enters it, diluted and, therefore, weakened gastric juice leaves with it, which seriously inhibits digestion. Let's see why you can't drink while eating.
Effects on Digestion of Drinking with Meals
Due to the consumption of water during meals, food is poorly chewed, because when drinking it, a person learns to swallow moist, half-chewed food, instead of thoroughly chewing food and moistening it with saliva. You need to chew food until it becomes a liquid, homogeneous mass. Thanks to thorough chewing, starch and sugar will be processed mainly in the oral cavity, which helps to reduce the load on other parts of the digestive tract. By not consuming the drink with meals, the food will be provided with the best processing.
Consumption of cold and hot drinks
Cold drinks taken with food interrupt the action of enzymes, which have to reach a normal temperature in the stomach before taking action. If cold drinks enter the stomach, they can injure it, which causes a lot of thirst.
Hot drinks, in turn, weaken the stomach and lose energy. The tone of the stomach tissues is disturbed, the ability to exert a mechanical effect on food is weakened. Both low and high water temperatures have an inhibitory effect on the secretion of digestive juices. The temperature of drinks is considered optimal if it corresponds to normal body temperature or is not more than 40 degrees.
Drinking while eating
If you constantly drink water after you have eaten, then the secretory apparatus of the stomach and the duodenum are overstrained, since the body is forced to secrete 1.5-2 times more gastric juice. This phenomenon is accompanied by heaviness, slowing down of the digestion process and gas formation. Further, over time, this can lead to indigestion, low acidity, gastritis and other types of disorders.
If you want to eliminate the habit of drinking water with food, you should start by not drinking water after eating. During the transitional phase, it is allowed to leave drinking while eating. But you should learn to "chew" the liquid in your mouth, mixing it with saliva.
Do not drink while eating
If you drink water before meals, you can even lose weight. This fact is an added bonus in addition to the health benefits of drinking before meals. Water drunk before meals removes weakened digestive juices from the stomach, activates digestion and quenches the first attack of hunger, which contributes to saturation of the body with less food. It is recommended to drink it no later than 10-15 minutes before a meal. If you drank not water, but juice, then the time shifts a little, and is 25-30 minutes.
If, passing to proper nutrition, you have a desire to quench your thirst, it is recommended to rinse your mouth and take a couple of small sips.
Thus, we can conclude that you should not drink while eating; if it is impossible to completely abandon this habit, "chewing" the water is allowed.
Many people drink plain water during meals, washing down even the first courses with it. They are accustomed to this, and do not think about whether it is possible to drink water while eating, whether it is harmful or not.
Is it harmful or not?
Admirers of healthy eating believe that you should not drink with meals. They explain that the gastric juice naturally secreted by the digestive organs is diluted with water. It seems to them that water removes improperly digested foods from the stomach into the intestines.
Whether it is possible to drink water during meals and after is a difficult question. Nutritionists answer it. They explain that the process of digestion begins with the anticipation of food - from this salivation is formed, which contributes to the beginning of the digestion of food.
After all, saliva contains the necessary enzymes, softens foods with chewing. It is not without reason that it is said that every spoonful of food should be chewed at least 30 times. During this time, food is sufficiently mixed with saliva, it receives enzymes important for softening products. Then the food, already softened with enzymes, enters the stomach, where it enters the acidic environment of the gastric juice, and, gradually being digested, passes into the intestines.
After 4 hours, a liquefied mass is formed in the stomach from the products that have entered it - chyme. He needs the enzymes secreted by each section of the intestine so that he gives up all of his nutrients.
Supplementing chyme with water accelerates the process of its removal from the stomach, it additionally moisturizes the undigested food, and the stomach is emptied much faster than with the natural processes of digestion. Whether or not to drink water while eating is up to the person to decide, without thinking whether it is useful.
Water does not affect acidity
The human body is a well-coordinated system. When a difficult-to-digest food remains in the stomach, it itself produces an additional amount of enzymes with high acidity of juice, which copes with heavy food.
If a person, feeling a heaviness in the stomach, drinks water, it does not affect the regulation of acidity. According to studies, food slightly reduces acidity, which is restored by normal digestion.
Do you drink water while you eat?
To vote
The same studies prove that the additional volume of water does not change the rate of digestion, does not take away undigested solid foods with it into the intestine, they remain in it until they receive the required amount of enzymes before they go into chyme.
Scientists have proven that drinking water while eating is possible, but the question of whether it is harmful or beneficial remains open. There is only a firm statement that the liquid leaves quickly, leaving solid food particles in it, without affecting their digestion in any way, without stretching the gastric walls.
Pros of drinking food with water
For people eating dry food, drinking water is beneficial. Nutritionists warn that drinking dry water while eating is useful, only you must first thoroughly chew the food so that it is sufficiently saturated with saliva with natural enzymes and swallow it. Then drinking will not be harmful.
In addition, in order to drink water, a person briefly stops the process of absorbing food, and pauses slow down the meal. Because of this, a person eats less, does not overeat. The same applies to tea, when a person is used to drinking tea, and not water with meals.
Does not affect the digestion of food and the temperature of the additional liquid drunk. The stomach has a temperature equalization function. At the same time, scientists warn against very hot drinks, they must be cooled to 65 ° C.
The inside of the stomach is covered with folds, this was done by nature, so that it stretches 4-8 times, depending on the food eaten. In the structure of the stomach there is a gatekeeper valve, which is closed while the stomach does its work and digests food into a chyme state.
However, the gatekeeper opens to allow excess fluid that the person drinks with food as it warms up to stomach temperature. Solid food components do not pass into the pylorus until they are crushed under the influence of gastric juice to particles of 2-3 mm.
In a passive state, the stomach is a muscular tissue organ. It allows you to intensively knead food, alternately tensing the muscle walls and folds. However, he needs food that is already chopped, chewed, softened by salivary enzymes. Products are softened only in this way, but not with an additional volume of water.
Many experts in the question of whether it is possible to drink water while eating, lean towards both sides - not harmful, but not very useful either.