Water with meals: pros and cons

The topic of water causes discussions among adherents of healthy lifestyle and clients of fitness clubs, trainers and nutritionists like to talk about it. So we wondered: is it possible to wash down food? On the one hand, it kind of stretches the stomach, and on the other hand, it helps to digest food. For the answer we went to the expert of “Championship” Elena Ryabinkova – candidate of medical sciences, sports doctor, nutritionist and speaker of the International Festival of Health and Sports SN PRO EXPO FORUM.

It is fashionable to refer to folklore, to everyday experience, to Shelton, who “gave” us the proverbial two liters of water a day, without being a doctor. But there is surprisingly little scientific information on this topic. There is a lot of misinformation. There is no “gold standard” of evidence from clinical studies comparing the weight loss of people on a diet who drink water before and during meals with those who do not.

All the far-fetched reasoning and theses boil down to three basic conclusions:

• in favor of water before, during, or after meals;
• against water before, during or after meals;
• water intake has no value for digestion or rapid weight loss.

Why is drinking water with meals beneficial?

The arguments for water being an elixir for weight loss and healthy digestion boil down to the following:

1. Eating with water occurs at a slower speed and helps you get full faster and curb weight gain by stopping during meals for sips. They make you eat less overall and prevent overeating.
2. Drinking water quenches hunger hormones and induces a “feeling of calm and satiety”.
3. Water helps the stomach liquefy food, which aids in better digestion and nutrient absorption.
4. Water helps enzymes function.
5. Water helps prevent constipation and abdominal bloating by softening stools and keeping the digestive tract lubricated.

Why is drinking water with meals harmful?

The arguments of those who believe this practice can do more harm than good are basically the same, but with the opposite sign. Opponents of water argue:

1. Excessive fluid intake during meals can lead to abdominal bloating, stomach upset, and even impaired absorption of nutrients.
2. Water during meals dilutes stomach acid and digestive enzymes, making it harder to digest food.
3. At-risk groups with arterial hypertension and coronary heart disease get extra strain on the heart that they may not be able to handle.
4. Water can increase stomach volume and this negatively affects gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Food will back up from the stomach into the esophagus due to acid reflux.
5. Drinking water before or during meals can cause discomfort, belching or heartburn, even more so if you swallow and grab air while swallowing.

That said, there is no research or evidence to support that drinking water with meals can impair digestion, cause abdominal bloating or acid reflux, or have other negative health effects.

A third group of experts, who do not classify water as an appetite control agent, argue that drinking water with meals helps digestion mainly during the chewing and swallowing stages, when it softens the food and moves it down the esophagus, and during the elimination stage, helping to keep stools soft and flowing through the intestines. Enzymes, on the other hand, adhere to food particles regardless of the presence of water, and the stomach produces as much gastric juice as it needs and any dilution will be temporary.

Can water actually do good or harm?

In order for everyone to be able to answer these questions it is necessary to determine:

• How much water and how many calories per day you need to consume according to WHO norms. All the liquid in your diet should be distributed throughout the day, taking into account work and training.

Calculate your needs based on 35 ml per kg in winter and 40 ml per kg in summer. This is all fluids including water, juices, smoothies, tea, coffee, soups, etc. Don’t forget to factor in increased sweating during heat waves, increased body temperature, increased physical activity… The amount of water will increase in these cases too.

• When you plan to add water to your diet: before, during or after meals and for what purpose.

If you drink water before meals, it will have no effect on speeding up or slowing down digestion. Water is quickly absorbed by the villi of the epithelium of the digestive tract and enters the bloodstream. Water will not linger in the stomach and will have little or no effect on appetite. The water will flush the digestive tract, clean out the “junk” and prepare you for eating.

If you plan to add water at mealtime, it will matter what kind of food is on your table.

When eating carbohydrates, plant-based foods – water will liquefy the food clump or hummus, which won’t linger in your stomach either. It with water will be faster in the intestines and there will be digestion of carbohydrates.

Protein or mixed food, with or without water, will already linger in the stomach. The sphincter from the stomach to the duodenum will close as soon as protein food is in the stomach and protein digestion begins. Protein ingestion with water will delay it a little – the gastric juice will be diluted. But clearly regulated processes in the body will quickly equalize the pH of gastric juice and digestion of proteins will go its way.

The recommended increase of water in the diet at high protein content (more than 2 grams per kg of body weight) is mainly associated with increased load on the liver and kidneys. Water will contribute to the excretion of protein metabolic products – urea and ketone bodies. Its increase is not necessarily associated with food intake.

Taking water after a meal will not have any special effect on the speed of digestion and appetite. So drink it or don’t drink it. The best choice after a meal will be dessert drinks: coffee, teas, decoctions, compotes, sours.

• What type of gastric secretion you have. This will not be superfluous for a more accurate planning of the diet (and water is also part of the diet).

In addition to the normal type according to the method of K.M.Bykov and T.I.Kurtsin determine four more pathological types of gastric secretion: excitable, asthenic, inert and inhibitory. For each of them there will be their own limitations. In the excitable type, for example, not only soup will be unnecessary, but also water during meals.

• Whether you have arrhythmias and seizures.

Eating and drinking behavior cannot be considered in isolation from macro- and micronutrients. Above all sodium and chlorine, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and others. Therefore, when adding water, do not forget to balance the diet in terms of macro and micronutrients. This will affect impulse conduction, membrane permeability and the quality of life of all cells.

• Whether you are at risk.

Water must not only enter the body but also be excreted from the body. For risk groups, with heart disease, arterial hypertension, kidney disease, increasing water in the diet is a reason to consult a doctor.

• Well, and quite for professionals. Do not forget about endogenous water. For a more accurate calculation of the volume of liquid in the diet, it is necessary to determine the type and dosage of physical activity.

Expenditure of glycogen stores during exercise promotes additional water release and its subsequent excretion. Oxidation of one gram of fat produces slightly more than one gram of endogenous water. Accordingly, the amount of endogenous water increases with increased adipose tissue cleavage. These processes will require clarification and correct approach to the drinking regimen of a person involved in the process of combating excess body weight.

So how to drink water correctly?

Find your system

Listen to your body. You should be comfortable with it. Drink as much water as you want before, after and during meals. Osmoreceptors, which are found in all body tissues, and the whole system in the body will adjust your needs without you.

Watch the color of your urine

It should be straw-colored. If light, the amount of water should be reduced, darkened – add.

Drink warm, non-carbonated water with meals

If you do drink while eating, then in small sips, a little and not in a hurry.

Avoid sweet drinks during meals

All drinks, except water, have calories. Even tea, coffee – 4-7 kcal. Do not forget to take into account these calories.
And remember your grandmother’s or mother’s advice: “do not eat in dry meat”!

In the end – to use water, other drinks before, during or after meals depends only on you. But first try how comfortable it is, and then decide.