This year a friend of mine decided to give up drinking any fluids with meals because he believed it was bad for his digestion. Problem was, he never had enough explanation to back up his theory.
So for those of you who are curious, here’s the explanation-
Why you give your stomach a tough time when you drink fluids with meals
Our stomach is actually really intelligent. It seems to know exactly what type and what amount of foods are in there, and it releases the right amounts of gastric juices accordingly.
Thing is, if what we’ve put into our stomach is too liquid then the gastric juices won’t work, and the stomach knows this. So what happens is the water component is absorbed through the walls of the stomach until the contents are concentrated enough for the digestive juices to act. But when this happens, the concentrated part that’s left usually ends up being even thicker than food usually is in the stomach.
But why is this bad?
Putting anything into your stomach that causes a bit of digestive chaos of course is not going to be that great for you or your body.
And when this process happens we are in fact delaying digestion and and possibly causing some foods to be absorbed through the walls of the stomach before the digestive juices get a chance to do their thing.
And why is this article in a skin care blog??
You may have gathered by now that I write and talk a lot about food and nutrition in this blog. This is because treating acne and taking care of our skin is something we must do holistically – which means taking care of the inside out and vice versa.
Digestion is particularly important to our skins health because a clogged up digestive system often shows up on the skin with clogged pores and blemishes. So it’s in our best interested to watch what we put into our bodies and to take care of our digestive health.
And I know that this is just ANOTHER rule that we need to look out for. But to be honest, I’ve known this information for a while now and I haven’t been that disciplined with it (yet). I’d much rather you focus your energy on making bigger changes like switching to brown rice, eating more vegetables, drinking more water etc. It all depends where you are on the healthy eating scale and how much improvement you’re comfortable with making in your diet at this time.
It just helps to at least be aware of what’s good and what’s bad for your body so you can make decisions accordingly. If you’re not dying of thirst and you think you can handle your next meal without drinking any fluids, then go for it! But remember, you don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to follow all the rules :)
Fran
29 responses ↓
hey fran! i have also read and heard this before and just knew that it messed with digestion. so thanks for the ‘why’ it messes it up! however, i was wondering about drinking water before or after? is there a certain period of time i should stop drinking water before i eat? and after i eat? i think i heard 30 min. but not sure if this is accurate or gives the body enough time to digest the food.
thanks love! :)
I can certainly attest to this advice.
My skin health is always a reflection of my digestive health. I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which means my stomach reacts quite dramatically to a plethora of tiny factors. When it’s not happy, my skin isn’t happy. When my stomach is happy, my skin is perfectly clear.
I haven’t given much thought to drinking/ not drinking during meals. I usually don’t drink because it just feels odd. I eat when I’m hungry. I drink when I’m thirsty. These two don’t often happen simultaneously.
this is a big deal to me right now. i would drink with a meal and get VERY gassy for hours. no stomach cramps though. when i stopped drinking, it stopped the gas. very odd.
Gillian McKeith recommends this as well, she says it really hampers our digestion.
For several years now, I’ve drunk hardly any fluid with my meals. My family thinks I’m weird. I always heard it sort of floods your digestive system or something. I’m glad to see I’m not crazy! I try to wait a couple of hours after meals before I drink water too, so sometimes if I want to drink any water, I need to time it just right (or I don’t worry about the timing). If I still feel a lot of food in my stomach, then I probably won’t drink.
Hi kristin, I had dinner with a friend of mine last night who’s been following this rule for years. He said he tries to allow for 15 minutes before and 20 minutes after eating, but ideally 1 hour after eating is better.
This is very interesting. I am going to give it a shot and try not drinking any fluids with my meals till later. Thanks for all the info!
OH my GOSH Fran i’m so glad you wrote abou this. Can you believe this one of my main causes of stomach aches and bloating lack of digestion and probably other problems that resulted with acne. And i was just talking about this yesterday! I’m so glad you wrote about this!!
<3
Also.. as much as there are so mnay other rules that are more important this was a big problem for me because i eat a lot of healthy foods and smaller meals through out the day(very important not to just eat 2 or three huge meals) so why was i getting so bloated and feeling tired ? Because i was drinking a tall glass of water with my meals… especially with big meals.
Try to drink water immediately after waking up and before and after exercise and through out the day and have a couple little sips with meals or none at all and wait an hour before drinking if you can or if you don’t feel dehydrated.
Drinking water is so important so id you have to than ok… However… do not drink other liquids with meals!.. WATER
Hi Fran,
For the last 10 years, I’ve been drinking water 45 minutes to one hour AFTER a meal. I have a lot of people commenting on that when I eat with friend’s at a restaurant. They always wonder how come I’m not dying … I tell them that I have 10 years of training.
If your digestive system is filled with water, you won’t digest properly and THAT means that food will stay trapped inside your body and can convert to fat unless you burn it off!
This is a great point and some are on either side, but I believe this idea of waiting 30-60 minutes after a meal and avoiding drinking just before a meal … makes sense to me!
Fran,
Just to let you know, I tried clicking on the button to edit WAY before the time-out and I wasn’t able to.
(i had to right click to edit,figured it out too late)
Also i wanted to mention in addition to what i said yesterday….
In China and I’m sure other parts of the world, it is very well known to drink only Hot liquids during,before and after meals :)
<3
my naturopath told me to stop drinking 30 mins before my meal, and to wait 30 mins after, as well. basically you’re diluting the hydrochloric acid in your stomach if you drink water. sipping is allowed but, preferably, you shouldn’t. she did recommend pouring a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar into 1/4 cup of water and drinking the mixture 15 mins before my meal. anyways, i think this is good practice because now i REALLY chew my food and eat slower, which you should do regardless. and, yes, i think this goes with eastern medicine, don’t drink heaps of water during your meal.
Wow, this is exactly what I wanted to know for a long time!! But, how about soup, wine, and something like that? Should I avoid drinking them during a meal as well?
My boyfriend’s mom who is Chinese always asks me to drink soup before dinner though…like an hour before we eat dinner.
Hi vivienne, soup is really good for you so definitely don’t stop eating/drinking it :)
Wine counts as a drink so it’s best not to drink wine with your meals.
This is really interesting! Do you have any medical/scientific sources?
Hi Fee, I got most of the information from an article by Roger French from the Natural Health and Vegetarian Life magazine.
Wow, you guys severely underestimate the ability of your stomachs.
I’m sure after million years of evolution, the human body is able to digest food just fine with water.
I would personally need a better source before I believe this. Not saying it’s not true, just saying I need more reliable information before I would accept it as fact. I would tend to think Anthony is right.
Eat Smart Age Smart, whoever told you food gets trapped in your body and turns into fat if your digestion is sub-optimal is simply wrong. It sounds like they have an oddly childish idea of how the digestive system works, like: food goes in, food stays there, food weighs you down. Actually, it’s digesting food well that will allow your body to use the most calories from it. If water does indeed hamper digestion, a more likely effect would be that your body won’t be able to utilise all the nutrients from your food.
This is rubbish!!! There are millions of people in the world drininking during and after meal and they are still healthy and no problem with their digestion>>>I heard this this before!! But I dont believe this.
I’ve got to agree with Dsk16. Where are you getting your info? This is not backed by science at all. Scientifically speaking, drinking water while eating, unless in mass quantities does not impede digestion at all. Here are some websites to look over. More likely than not, people are more affected by not drinking enough water throughout the day. Drink before, during and after meals, and especially after exercise. Ridiculous! Get your facts straight!
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=549283
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=584222
http://www.fitsugar.com/OK-Drink-Water-While-Eating-2805627
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/digestion/AN01776/
i teach korean students and they all have said this. also, living in japan for many years i know they only drink warm tea with meals (traditionally). i’d be more inclined to follow east asian practices than any western or westerner who thinks our bodies have evovled. just take a look at korean and japanese skin. take your pick. btw i drink about 3 800ml bottles of water a day and stop 30mins before eating. jasmine or green tea, sipped during meals. water comes again much later. feel much better for it.
western thought lol: it’s funny that you would mention Koreans because I happen to be one, and I always drink water with my meals, and have done so ever since I can remember. Besides genetics, Asians tend to have better skin than the average westerner bc they eat foods that are rich in nutrients and low in fat. Have you seen a typical Korean table setting? There is one or two meat dish at most, but mostly a lot of vegetable-based side dishes and soup. Western foods, typically southern American, is high in fat and calories. This is also another reason why we tend to stay thinner, and it has been a well proven fact that green tea is good for detoxing the body as it has high antioxidant properties. Clear skin has nothing to do with drinking or not drinking water with meals, and by the way, I have very clear skin and always get complimented on it. Not to boast, but just saying. Go Asian genes! So DRINK UP people!
this is really good…we gotta change before its too late!
First a few words…
After reading the comments here I am amazed how easily people believe what they read. Americans need to get into their thick heads that if something is put “on paper” it does not automatically mean that it’s true. Who is the author for you to even consider this seriously, a doctor? It’s not even signed for god’s sake. If this article says that eating in general is very bad, will you stop eating? Hopeless….
Now on the subject:
Our stomach is not just some sack in which you stuff all the food. Nature has actually put some sense into its structure…how surprising. A stomach has special folds in its walls, when you drink, the water runs down these folds into the intestine bypassing all the food. Although any gastroenterologist certainly knows that, ordinary people don’t necessary need to know these simple facts (although it would help if they actually taught Americans something in school), they just need to learn to use their heads a little…If simply drinking water with food (which humans, as well as all the other mammals have been doing one way or another for thousands of years–yes, there is such a thing as evolution), our species would long be extinct. In nature, you know, obtaining food for animals is really hard, it would take a little more than water to disrupt our digestions…
There is however a big NO to this. Drinking extremely cold water will in fact have an affect on digestion. Iced water causes stomach cramps that pushes the food into intestine without fully digesting. As a result person always feels hungry. A fact on which McDonalds and other fast food places made a fortune. Also, protein being undigested begins to rot in the intestine quite fast. This causes bloating and other gastric problems. This effect was discovered in the 60ies in Soviet Union, when doctors needed to keep a certain substance used as a radiocontrast agent to improve visibility in the stomach in x-rays for a prolonged period of time inside the stomach, and discovered that if the patient swallowed this agent straight from the fridge, the agent shortened the time the food stays in the stomach from 2-3 hours to about 20 minutes. If you’re interested in this, there are many papers published on this such as [ “Материалы к вопросу о действии на организм тепла“, 1969, Институт экспериментальной медицины АМН СССР, г. Ленинград] by Vitaly Lindenbrat. This widely accepted fact in the scientific world is not publicized very much in the western world’s media for the already specified rasones. McDonalds and other fast food places serve their meals with iced drinks for a reason (which is really unconventional for any cuisine). Tea or coffee is either more expensive, or sold separately from meals, and is not advertised at all. While iced coke and such is advertised with colorful annoying posters all over…
The bottom line: The author here is either an uneducated person with no critical thinking who just herd it somewhere and instantly believed it, or this on line magazine just needs something new to write about, which is far more likely.
Rule of thumb… NEVER trust anyone named “Anthony”!
WaterJunky said “Scientifically speaking, drinking water while eating, unless in mass quantities does not impede digestion at all”.
A Freudian slip? OK, Freud has nothing to do with this, but it is a slip. Let’s do some reverse engineering. From Water Junky’s assertion we can gather that there MUST BE a point at which drinking too much water will interfere with digestion. How do we know what that amount is? There is no “number” that we can attach to it – it varies from person to person. But if “a lot” of water will interfere with digestion, then doesn’t it stand to reason that a moderate amount will interfere moderately, and so on?
Philip, did you even bother to read the comments and the articles I posted before you started typing your little fingers away? Seems to me you’re just arguing for argument’s sake. You don’t bring up any new points, you just try to repute my evidence with nothing to back up what you are saying. Generally, a glass or two of water is not bad. In fact, the body needs some water to support digestion, and I highly doubt if you decided to go all crazy on water, it would impede digestion at all. You’ll most likely get full very quickly from all the fluid intake though, which may be better if you want to lose weight.
As poster “Don’t believe this nonsense” wrote, water passes straight through the digestive system unless the body needs to utilize it. Have you ever drank a lot of water at one time? You will notice that within 30 minutes to an hour, you will need to urinate and expel most of the fluids because your body does not need so much at once. Drinking water regularly throughout the day is best so that you maintain hydration. All I was saying is that you shouldn’t drink too much at once because it does nothing for your body. It just goes in and comes right back out. Also, stay away from sodas and sugared drinks. Just plain water is best.
In the above comment, I meant to say refute, not repute.
In addition, if there is anything that a person needs to change, I would suggest diet and exercise. As a child, I grew up extremely organic because my grandmother grew most of the vegetables that we ate. I didn’t know then that it was so good for me. I just remember it was a lot of work. Also, I used to be very active in the way that I played and a day didn’t go by that I was outside doing something. I remember how thirsty I would get as if I would die if I didn’t have five large cups of ice water right away.
Nowadays people lead a sedentary lifestyles. We don’t exercise and at work we just sit around all day in front of a desk, in front of our computer or video games, etc. Our movements are very minimal, and we just don’t get thirsty. If anything, even when we do get thirsty, we commonly mistake thirst for hunger and eat. I don’t know of a single person who drinks enough water. We all have to make a conscious effort.
So take this challenge, eat those vegetables (adopt asian cuisine :p), exercise, DRINK LOTS OF WATER!!
Your health has nothing to do with the amount of fluids you intake and has everything to do with the types of fluids and the lifestyle you lead. But whatever, I’m going to keep doing what works for me. I’m just preaching to a wall to some people here, so if it’s working for you, Thumbs up. Good for you, but obviously there is a deeper problem than having water with food for most people. I know it takes a lot more effort to do it, but you need to get off your fat, lazy butt and eat healthier. We’re all guilty of it in our fast-paced, impatient society, even me. So put down that Big mac or Whopper. Pick up that organic salad sans dressing and some homemade chicken soup. Find out how to cook different cuisines that are healthier yet delicious. Try Korean restaurants. You’ll see what I mean by all the vegetable side dishes and heart-healthy soups. Anyway, I’m done preaching now. So good luck.
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