A few weeks ago, I interviewed Christa Orecchio who has her own holistic health practice in San Diego. Believe it or not, Christa recommends not drinking liquids during meals. Sounds a little crazy, right?
Her contention:
drinking liquid during our meals dilutes our precious digestive enzymes that help us digest and absorb the nutrients in our food. Most Americans (especially if you are eating processed foods) are severely deficient in digestive enzymes which contributes to weight gain, constipation, bloating and overall low energy.
Since that interview, I’ve stopped drinking during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Surprisingly, I now seem to be thirsty less often, and never during meals. Most people think that you need liquids to combat the dryness of certain foods, but it just doesn’t seem to be the case. Of course, if you eat several bread rolls in a row, you’ll probably need something to wash it down - but that isn’t much of a meal, is it?
The biggest difference comes when going out to eat. At restaurants where they constantly refill your water glass, I end up drinking way to much. When the meal is over, not only am I painfully full (adding 5 glasses of water on top of dinner fills my stomach up pretty quickly) but I’m somehow still thirsty. Maybe the water your drink with meals dilutes your digestive juices and is less readily absorbed into your body?
Whatever the reason, I am less thirsty and don’t miss liquids at all during meals. Has anyone else tried this? Give it a whirl and report back!
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been doing this for many years, ever since I read it in my late 20s (Yogananda). I’m one of those whose stomach acid output is low, so I kind of have to…..
The other thing I don’t understand is ice in water (especially restaurants), or icy drinks in general. I think it’s a poor use of the body’s energy stores to ask it to heat “near-frozen” liquids to 98.6. Once you get used to room-temp beverages, it’s no big deal (although not being a beer drinker, I can’t say that’d be a tasty switch — good luck ordering a warm beer at a US bar anyway)……
1) How can enzymes be diluted?? Enzymes are proteins? How does water dilute a protein?
2) Please send me research referrences that documents the effect of water diluting digestive enzymes. If you mean digestive stomach and intestinal acids, then please refer me to the same documentation that shows that such strong acids can be diluted by water.
Not every on the internet is true just because it comes from a web site, but I’d be willing to rethink this with documented scientific results.
Looking forward to this info.
thx
@RichardS My source comes from this very website, which I’ve linked to, where I quoted a health counselor and clinical nutritionalist from an interview we did.
Maybe you are confused by the term dilution. To dilute something is to make it thinner by adding something else to it - so if you have a handful of beef (protein, for your example) and I stir in a bunch of water, I have diluted the mixture in your hand.
It seems to me that your actual argument is that your digestive system is as effective, regardless of how much water it contains. Correct? Is it as effective regardless of how much food it contains also? What about the type and composition of the food? It can’t possibly be equal in all circumstances, can it?
This is not a science blog, in fact, often the opposite. Food scientists have been claiming to know what’s best for us for decades now. Since scientists became involved in what we eat, we’ve become more and more unhealthy.
Since writing this post, 4 or 5 people whose food advice I trust have told me they’ve been following this advice for decades, with positive results. Are there any downsides to trying this out for yourself?
And…more anecdotal evidence - a different nutritionalist advised a good friend of mine to drink less water during meals as a possible solution to flatulence. So, it’s just not just me and one other crazy person…there are at least a few of us!
Check out the Mayo Clinic website for a really good answer to this question from noted gastroenterologist Michael Picco, M.D.
you ought not only not drink any water with your meals but also not imbibe any liquid during your workout. thataway the body uses its own water and utilizes it to aid in digestion and bodily reactions following exercise. besides fruit/veggie juice and soups are the only forms of natural liquids that the body can absorb and use properly. plain water just goes right through the body and out into the commode without any benefit along the way. if you are really dying for some water then at least do this much: drink it before the meal. drinking water after a meal is tantamount to drenching your food and making a soggy mess of it in the process.
RichardS is very right. Drinking a reasonable amount of water during meals has no effect on digestion and does not dilute digestive “juices”, as some nutrionists and holistic healers would have us believe. Ask a qualified gastroenterologoist or dietitician, if corroboration is needed.
Athough intuitively this “dilution” may seem to be logical, enzyme action is a different ball game altogether and is unaffected by water dilution. Any serious undergrad student of chemistry would be able to tell you this without the need to quote research studies one way or the other.
If you think something worked for you, that’s great for you. But that’s not reason enough to recommend it to others unless you yourself are a qualified medical practitioner.
Also, it’s really very easy to find “4 or 5″ supporters on the Internet of just about any argument or statement one wishes to make — but that’s totally unscientific and no basis for postulating a theory, as the self-styled nutritionists are always so eager to do!
@sharukh hasan - That is super interesting. Do you have any links to back that up?
@art I understand where you are coming from, but, as you say, “enzyme action is a different ball game altogether and is unaffected by water dilution”. That statement completely supports the idea that there is no basis for needing to drink liquids while eating, correct?
Aside from the fact that this post does not explicitly recommend this to anyone (it merely describes my experience), the idea that it would need to be given by a qualified medical practitioner is laughable. How could not drinking during meals possibly be a health risk?
@ reluctanteater - in response to your response to art…how does that support the idea there is no basis for needing to drink liquids while eating? if he’s correct in saying that water dilution doesn’t affect the function of enzymes and food digestion, then it would make no difference if you drank water or if you didn’t drink water, so its completely a matter of personal preference.
i didnt see anyone say it was a health risk to not drink water while eating, but it doesn’t make much sense for it to be a risk to drink water, either. to be honest this whole post doesnt make much sense - if it came from a doctor maybe it would (which is art’s point, i think), but if it works for you, hey, whatever floats your boat…i’m going to ignore it, however.
@lol If water does not affect digestion, then you don’t need to drink it while eating.
He didn’t explicitly say it was a health risk (neither did I), but insisting that you should only do something like this if told by a “qualified medical practitioner” certainly implies that there are risks associated, doesn’t it?
The point is that most people think it’s necessary to drink while eating. Give it a try, or don’t - I don’t care. Don’t just go on doing it because you think you need to “wash down” your meal. This is most likely untrue, as both sides of this “argument” insist that water does not help digestion.
So if we can agree that water doesn’t help digestion, then it either has no effect, or slightly impedes it.
From a gastroenterologist: Does drinking water during or after a meal disturb digestion?
Answer
from Michael Picco, M.D.
There’s no concern that water will dilute the digestive juices or interfere with digestion. In fact, drinking water during or after a meal can actually improve digestion. Water and other liquids help break down the food in your stomach and keep your digestive system on track. Looking for other ways to promote good digestion? Focus on a healthy lifestyle. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Maintain a healthy weight. Include physical activity in your daily routine.
“Food scientists have been claiming to know what’s best for us for decades now. Since scientists became involved in what we eat, we’ve become more and more unhealthy.”
Seriously? That’s the slipperiest slippery slope I’ve ever heard.
@TheRelunctantEater, considering the fact that you titled the article “Don’t Drink Water (or anything else) During Meals,” I would say that you’re giving advice you’re not qualified to give. It may not lead to a medical problem of some kind, but don’t back out of the responsibility you have as a writer when you blatantly give advice stating that not following said advice will end in the dilution of one’s digestive enzymes. Maybe quit listening to unqualified people who didn’t go to medical school? Hopefully, no one out there is dumb enough to listen to your unqualified ass, either.
And thirst is your body’s way of telling you it’s time to hydrate. Do you seriously think that because you’re not drinking with meals that your body is MORE hydrated than before? I think this is all in your head and you should think before you write, wacko. Drinking less so you feel less full is one thing, but don’t give people the impression that doing this is absolutely necessary to one’s health. Put a fucking disclaimer in the article!
@ummmm This article contains a quote from a holistic health professional (more qualified than you or I) and an account of my own personal experience (no downside, slightly positive upside)…nothing more.
Are you aware that you can get conflicting advice from people who went to medical school?
DISCLAIMER: WATER IS NECESSARY FOR SURVIVAL. I STILL DRINK IT AND SO SHOULD YOU. HOPEFULLY YOU’LL READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE INSTEAD OF STOPPING AFTER READING THE TITLE, ASSUME THAT IT IS A DANGEROUS HEALTH RISK TO DRINK DURING MEALS, AND THEN END UP HAVING TO SURVIVE A HARROWING DINNER WITHOUT WATER - ONLY TO QUENCH YOUR THIRST LATER IN THE EVENING TO AVOID DEHYDRATION - OR WORSE - DEATH.
To the average person a stomach is just a stomach. He does not realize there is great variation as to size, shape, position, muscular, and secretory powers. No two leaves are alike. It is not strange that stomachs also vary.
An attempt will here be made to develop the treatment of this subject from a scientific stand-point. The first requirement is to state facts on which conclusions may be based.
The gastric juice is well represented in its chemical value by the amount of hydrochloric acid which it contains. If this is greater than average, water drinking with meals may be an advantage ; if less than average, a disadvantage; if average, not harmful.
So much for the secretory factor in the case. Motility is the other important factor. Motility refers to the motor power or the mechanical ability of the stomach to receive food, hold the same within its grasp, mix thoroughly with its own juices, and, at the proper time, pass it on to the duodenum. The size, shape, position, and muscular power of the stomach determine its motility.
The first real information regarding its muscular contractions was obtained by observation of a man who had received a bullet wound in the stomach, leaving a permanent opening through the abdominal wall. Generalization from such a specific instance was a mistake. Our present information on this subject is quite different. Much of this was obtained by means of the X-ray, which affords opportunity to observe stomachs of many kinds — normal as well as abnormal. This has helped to answer the question, ” Should we drink water with meals? ” and has given sufficient reasons therefor.
An X-ray classification according to the shape and strength of the stomach is simple and easily understood. First, there is the stomach which is shaped like a steer’s horn, large end uppermost, called the hypertonic stomach (meaning increased tone). Tone refers to muscular power.
Second, there is the stomach with normal tone orthotonic — shaped like the letter J.
Third, there is the stomach with less than normal tone (hypotonic) —more like a U than a J — the left arm reaching half the height of the right.
Fourth, there is the stomach with practically no tone at all — atonic — shaped still more like the letter U — that is, the left arm comes up almost as high as the right.
For X-ray examination, a bowl of oatmeal and bismuth is given. The bismuth casts a shadow, enabling one to observe its movements through the stomach. A stomach of the first type is emptied of such a meal in two or three hours; that of the second, in three or four; the third, in four or five; and the fourth, in five to seven. It is uphill work for the last two types to empty themselves. Since water seeks the lowest level, it is more difficult for such weak stomachs to pass water than solid food into the intestine.
Every one is familiar with the way in which sand is washed ashore by the waves of the ocean. With each wave the sand is brought further and further on the beach, and the water flows back again. Contractions of the stomach act in a similar way. Each wave brings the solid food toward the outlet of the stomach, and it is gradually passed to the duodenum. In the weak stomach, water flows back again and consequently too much fluid always remains.
In the first and second types, the greater part of the water passes through the stomach in less than fifteen minutes; therefore it will not interfere with the meal. Even three to five glasses may be taken at one meal and half an hour later no more will remain than if only one had been taken. The same cannot be said of the last two types, for the solid food remains long in these, and the fluids even longer. Two glasses of water weigh one pound. If one takes four glasses of water or its equivalent, two glasses of water, one cup of coffee, and one plate of soup, he adds to the weight of the stomach contents two pounds (equal to eight small lamb chops). This is greater than the weight of the solid food contained in an ordinary meal. Most of this water remains to the end of the meal, adding to the weight of the stomach contents for quite a while. It so happens that these weak stomachs, just the ones which cannot stand a heavy load, retain it longer than those which could endure it better — the strong ones emptying rapidly.
The stomach is a hollow organ. The function of its muscles is not only to mix and pass the food along, but to maintain its shape and prevent undue stretching and dilatation. When the muscles are weak, the elasticity of its walls is lost and, like an old rubber band, it stretches when filled but does not show a tendency to return to normal size when empty. It is correct to say that the normal stomach is, within limits, the size of its contents; that is, after a small meal, it is seen grasping its con-tents closely; after a large meal, it stretches to accommodate the greater bulk. The stomach of poor tone, instead of grasping its contents, is more like a flour sack — lifeless and inelastic.
There are a few symptoms by which poor motility and therefore inability to take large amounts of water may be recognized. There is a feeling of fullness, heaviness, and weight, after small amounts of food. Soup so fills one that it takes the appetite away. Large meals cannot be taken without causing distress.
Even in bad cases, eight ounces of fluid is generally allowable at each meal.
The subject should be easily understood after this presentation of the mechanical features of the stomach. To review — those with a large amount of gastric juice, of high acidity, may drink with advantage; those with low acidity, may be injured, especially if motility is at the same time impaired. Those with good motility have no reason to avoid water drinking with meals. Those with poor motility should take no more than eight ounces of fluids of all kinds with each meal.
Thanks Jon, superb info on this…really puts things in a proper perspective.
Been searching for the answers on matter, as suffer from chronic indigestion. Too many variables involved…e.g. loss of REAL sense of thirst with age.
Can’t generalize here, as one man’s food is another man’s poison.
Would love any reading suggestions on subject - if possible. TA Jon!
You end the post by stating “give it a whirl.”. That is the very essence is giving advice. As a dietician, I can tell you that drinking water with a meal is actually beneficial to the digestive process. The term nutritionist is very vague; anyone can call him/herself a nutritionist with no education whatsoever. Perhaps you would have been better suited to incorporate some balance into the post and discuss that this is a controversial approach with no clinical evidence to prove it is efficacious.
In short, you provided advice that you were unqualified to give by stating “give it a whirl”, and when others questioned you, you attempted to wiggle your way out of the irresponsible advice you provided.
@sm Since the ideas presented in this post are “irresponsible”, I’m sure we could all benefit from hearing your medical opinion on why not drinking water with your meal is detrimental to your heath/body.
I was not aware there was anything controversial about this suggestion until people started commenting here about how somehow this post constitutes unqualified medical advice.
I’m not wiggling my way out of anything. I do this and it seems to work fine for me (and others above who have done this for many years). I appreciate your comments but they would carry more weight if you could actually explain in depth why this is wrong, rather than simply stating your qualifications and questioning those of others.
I think there is some misunderstanding. Just because something is not beneficial does not mean it’s harmful; that’s where the role of clinical judgment comes in. There is no clinical evidence that omitting water from your meals aids in digestion or is of any benefit whatsoever. There is, however a great body of research shows adequate hydration is necessary for gastrointestinal health and digestion.
I’m still confused as to how you don’t believe you offered unqualified medical advice. The title of the post is “Don’t Drink Water (or anything else) During Meals, and you specifically tell people to try this technique. If you are not a RD, MD, DO or some other medical professional, you are not qualified to tell people what type of action they should take with their bodies.
The nutritionist’s claim that liquids break down digestive enzymes is not based in any sort of empirically based research. When you interviewed her, did you ask her how she came up with this hypothesis and what type of evidence there is to support it? It seems like you just sort of took her advice at face value. That is where the issue of irresponsibility lies; you simply stated an assertion with no proof whatsoever.
After looking at the nutritionist’s credentials, I am also a little concerned. Here’s what she posted on linkedin:
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
B.S., CN, HHC, Nutrition, Wellness, Psychology, International Business
1996 – 2000 — However her degree is actually only in International Business and Spanish per her webpage. She may have taken foundation courses, but doesn’t have a degree in Nutrition (the university doesn’t even offer it), nor does she have a degree in psychology.
Even if she did have a undergraduate degree in nutrition, dietetics or even psychology, it’s only an undergraduate degree; she doesn’t have the knowledge base to make or research such claims. An undergraduate degree simply means you have a foundation in the subject area; you are, by no means, an expert in your field. This is the reason people attend graduate school. That’s why I stated that identifying oneself as a nutritionist is very vague; there’s no title protection and anyone can call themselves a nutritionist.
As for evidence that hydration is beneficial in the digestion process, here are some articles that you can peruse at your leisure:
Production of 18O-single labeled peptide fragments during trypsin digestion of proteins for quantitative proteomics using nanoLC-ESI-MS/MS –Journal Of Proteome Research - July 2010
A Human Gastric Simulator (HGS) to Study Food Digestion in Human Stomach
Journal Of Food Science - Nov 2010
The influence of secretin on ion transport in the human jejunum
Gut - June 1973
I hope provides you with a little more insight into my comment. If what you are doing is working for you, then by all means keep doing it as long as you don’t harm yourself. I would urge you not to provide unsubstantiated and irresponsible advice however. Realize that some people only drink when they’re eating meals; they don’t get enough fluids as it is! When you make a blanket statement to stop drinking with meals, some people may do some serious harm to themselves. In the end, it’s all about balance and responsibility. If you choose to make these claims, you must be willing to provide some sort of evidence-based documentation to back it up. The world is not black and white; there are many shades of grey; I’m just asking that when you post some sort of recommendation you do so in a manner that is responsible for your entire reading audience.
“Drinking liquid during our meals dilutes our precious digestive enzymes that help us digest and absorb the nutrients in our food. Most Americans (especially if you are eating processed foods) are severely deficient in digestive enzymes which contributes to weight gain, constipation, bloating and overall low energy.”
That statement is totally ridiculous. Following your reasoning if you are deficient (or not) in digestive enzymes and you supposedly “dilute” them (which you don’t) you would not gain weight as the food would not be broken down sufficiently to allow adequate absorption therefore fewer calories would be absorbed, this would give a reduction in the amount of energy you absorb from any given meal (how does this result in gaining weight?). Please maintain a critical mindset when quoting studies rather than just reiterating information you have found and giving bad advice to people.
I appreciate the comments given that questioned the reasoning of this article and am glad people are capable of thinking for themselves and care enough to provide more information about this topic also I would like to provide another flavor to this article and state that adding beverages to meals is good for people dealing with kidney stones and other kidney disorders if anyone one knows more I encourage them to share
So has anybody even bothered to try this and notice any difference to energy levels, constipation etc?
I’m also interested in the statement people have made regarding how digestive enzymes/acids cannot be made weaker with the addition of water…. some clarification or explainations of how and why would be nice.
Just because mainstream science says one thing, doesn’t mean it’s always correct.
Hi I recently read that it’s ok to drink water when you eat. Here is the link: http://www.fitsugar.com/OK-Drink-Water-While-Eating-2805627
And I just want to ask? How do you eat then your cereal with milk? Or what about cooked meals with many souses and gravy?
Kind regards,
Laura.