Have you ever been told that drinking water just before eating or while you are eating, will dilute the acid in your stomach and thereby make digestion much less efficient?   This is something that has been mentioned here and there among health-conscious people.   We decided to take a look at this claim.    We looked at many of the available studies that can be found on the web and we learned that the people most knowledgeable about digestion, have stated just the opposite.  They say that drinking water before, during and after eating, aids digestion and the body through this process.

Most medical people say that water helps transport nutrients through the body to supply it’s growth and repairs.  Water disseminates the increased body heat that arises during digestion.   Water consumed while eating precedes the movement of food and helps to provide lubrication for transfers of nutrients.   Water helps in the secretion of saliva.   The one factoid most interesting is that water helps break down the food being very important to the process of digestion.   Consuming water provides a replacement for water lost through digestion, sweating, and even the respiration water loss through breathing.

Some claim that drinking beverages with meals is bad because it can cause toxins to accumulate, leading to a variety of health issues.   To understand whether or not drinking water disturbs digestion, we should first understand the normal digestive process.

Digestion starts as soon as you start to chew your food. Chewing food activates the salivary glands to start producing saliva (which is 90 plus percent water).   Saliva contains enzymes that break down food.   Saliva, a watery liquid is involved in softening the proverbial stool, preparing it for transportation through the digestive process.              Initially, Water and Saliva smooth out the transition from the mouth through the esophagus and into the stomach.  Once in your stomach, food gets mixed with a sulfuric acidic juice, which further breaks it down and produces a thick liquid known as chyme.  Chyme cannot be produced without water.   Additionally, water is instrumental in transporting Chyme toward the small intestine.   In the small intestine, chyme is mixed with “digestive enzymes” from the pancreas and “bile acids” from the liver. The acids and digestive enzymes break down the nutrients in the chyme, preparing them to be absorbed into the bloodstream.  At this point, a large percentage of the nutrients are able to permeate the intestinal walls and enter the bloodstream.   Only a small portion of nutrients remain to be processed and passed to the bloodstream.  This is done in the colon.  Once in the bloodstream, nutrients move through the body via liquids, which are mostly water.   The final step of digestion occurs when leftover materials are excreted from the colon through the rectum.  This is a process is also aided by the presence of liquids which are mostly water. The entire digestive process takes about 24 to 72 hours.   As we have described, water is an important part of digestion.

However, in order to be fair, we have looked at the claims of those who say drinking water prior to, during, or directly after eating, can be harmful.   The following are some of the most common arguments against drinking water while eating.

The first argument claims that drinking alcoholic beverages during eating, particularly hard liqueurs, dries up the production of saliva by 10 to 15%.   The data shows that this is not even true if moderation in drinking is practiced.  Despite this bit of information, it has no implications for drinking plain water.   Another claim is that acidic drinks can be harmful in the same way as liquors, by reducing saliva production.   However, the research we saw indicates that acidic drinks actually aid the production of saliva and they assist in the breakdown of food. Finally, there’s no scientifically established proof that alcoholic drinks, when consumed in moderation, cause reduced digestive functioning. Many claims that drinking water with meals dilutes stomach acid and digestive enzymes, making it more difficult for the body to digest food.  This claim implies that the body’s digestive system cannot adapt its acid secretions to the water content of the eaten food.   For example, pineapple, which is mostly water with an acidic quality, would be hard for the body to digest if adding water was a problem.  To assume that water dilutes the acid in your stomach is also false, for the same reason that adding water to a car battery increases the acidic value of the liquid in the battery when the water is at its proper level.  This idea of not drinking because it dilutes the stomach acid insinuates that the body is unable to regulate the acidic qualities in the digestive liquids.  Of course, this is not true; otherwise, it would be very detrimental to the digestive system.

A third popular argument against drinking liquids with meals states that fluids increase the speed at which solid foods exit the stomach and thus reduce the nutritional value of the food.   It is thought that reduced digestion time because of water moving the food through the system to fast, can reduce the meal’s contact time with stomach acid and digestive enzymes, resulting in poorer digestion.  As logical as this statement may sound, no scientific research supports it.  A study that analyzed the stomach’s emptying speed observed that, although liquids to pass through the digestive system more quickly than solids, it has no effect on the solids’ digestive speed.

The common thought among most researchers is that Americans should drink more plain water, without wine, beer or sugary juices.   This is for your body’s sake.    Drinking water is essential for overall health because it acts as a transportation system, circulating nutrients throughout the body and removing our waste products.   “The Benefits of Drinking water has many benefits over drinking sugar-laden sports drinks, sodas, and other unhealthy beverages.   Water is part of our bodies literally. The average adult human body is about 50 to 65 percent water, while the percentage of water in infants is at 79 percent. It’s common for the percentage of water in the body to decrease with age.  Despite that, water is a high percentage of all human bodies.

It seems a bit odd that in the United States, drinking water is second in popularity only to drinking manmade liquids.    This is despite the fact that soda drinks are a huge health concern, increasing the risk of obesity, stroke, and other heart complications.  On the opposite side of that is water which can reduce the harm and prevalence of heart-related diseases.   Water has a whole host of other benefits for the mind and the body in whole, but it would take to much space to relate them all here.

A constant supply of water is necessary to replenish the fluids lost through activities such as respiration, perspiration, and urination. In addition, water provides fluid for nutrient transportation, temperature regulation, digestion, and much more.   Drinking fluids and eating foods that contain water can act as a digestive aid.  Water is necessary to help you digest soluble fiber, which helps the bowel make well-formed, soft stools that are easy to pass.

A final argument, says that drinking too much water can be harmful.  Some say that drinking too much water can be fatal when it causes a condition of hyponatremia, also known as water intoxication. This occurs when the level of sodium — an electrolyte in the body that helps regulate the amount of water that’s in and around your cells —is abnormally low in your bloodstream.  This is so rare that almost no one has heard of it.

The last bit of a potential myth is something you have probably heard of.   It is the water rule of thumb: drink eight, 8-ounce glasses of water per day, which is about 1.9 liters. However, no one knows where this originated and thus we can’t find any supporting research. Perhaps a better rule of thumb is to drink water when you feel an urge to.   Do this while remembering that according to the Mayo Clinic, an adequate general fluid intake for men is 3 liters (about 13 cups) and 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) for women.  Remember that water is the best beverage to consume, but it’s not the only source of hydration.  Stay hydrated.

Sources:

www.wellandgood.com/good…/drinking-water-temperature-digestion-hydratio…

(see :https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and…/digestion/faq-20058348)

https://nutritiouslife.com/drink-up/drink-water-during-meals/

https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/qa/how-can-water-affect-your-digestion

https://www.livestrong.com › … › Diet and Nutrition › Beverages and Health

https://www.medicaldaily.com/health-benefits-drinking-water-digestive-system-fluid-b…

https://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water…/water-remove-harmful-toxins-from-digest…