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!
{ 10 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.