Perspective | Disregard that persistent myth: You can drink water while eating
By Ellie Krieger Ellie Krieger Bio Follow Columnist, Food April 22 It’s the kind of advice a well-meaning friend might chime in with as you chug a glass of water after sitting down for a meal: “You shouldn’t drink water before eating — it’s bad for your digestion.” She may have heard that warning from her mom years ago and assumed it was true, or read it recently on the Internet, where such messages spread quickly and live perpetually.
I dug into issue and learned it is “totally false,” as registered dietitian Tamara Duker Freuman, author of “The Bloated Belly Whisperer,” emphatically put it. But I also learned that the amount and speed at which you drink water with meals could have other effects worth considering.As with so much health misinformation, the argument against drinking water with meals appears to make logical sense, but it is based on a faulty understanding of how the body works.
Nor would water affect the stomach’s acidity, Freuman said. While anything you consume — food or drink — will momentarily make the stomach slightly less acidic, it responds by producing as much acid as it needs to digest that meal. That’s what it is designed to do. “It’s not like you start off with a certain amount of acid and that is it. If you need more, your body will make it,” she said.
Contrary to that friend’s unsolicited advice, drinking water during meals could actually help digestion, particularly during the chewing and swallowing stages, where it can help soften food and move it down the esophagus. Being well hydrated in general also aids in the elimination stage of digestion — helping keep stool soft and moving through the bowel.
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