Q & A Thursday: water and digestion
Posted by kathryn in Myths
Vanessa has also asked whether drinking water during a meal makes the food more difficult to digest ?
This is a common idea in health circles and particularly relates to protein digestion. Your stomach contains hydrochloric acid, which is needed for the first stage of breaking down protein. Proteins are made up of long chains of amino acids. These curl, twist and clump together to form all different shapes and configurations.
Hydrochloric acid is needed to uncurl and untwist the protein molecules, so that other digestive juices can get to the amino acids they contain. It’s a really important step in the digestive process.
The concern is that water drunk during the meal will dilute the hydrocholoric acid, limiting it’s ability to act on proteins.
However, for most people, drinking water during a meal is fine. One of the main sources of water for all of us, is the food we eat . Most vegetables are over 80 percent water, cooked pasta and rice are over 60 percent, while meat varies, but is at least 50 percent water. Even without drinking it seperately, you’re taking in a lot of water each time you eat and your digestive processes handle this without any problem.
Water during a meal is usually only a problem for people with reflux or hiatus hernia, where drinking lots of water can exacerbate the condition. Water also makes you feel full-up, so if you have a poor appetite, don’t drink while you’re eating.
12 July, 2007
Comments
Interesting! Thanks for your answer.
So, conversely, would you say that drinking a lot of water before or during a meal is a good way to feel more full for those that tend to overindulge?
Does the water in vegetables and meat dilute the acids? I would think it would get separated in a latter stage.
Vanessa: there are stretch receptors in the stomach wall, which message the brain when the stomach is full – it’s one of our satiety triggers. Two of my general recommendations, for people who tend to over-indulge, is to have a glass of water with the meal, but also to eat more slowly. It takes a while for our body to catch-up to the news we’ve eaten enough. I wouldn’t be drinking litres of water with any meal though.
Bruno: the body is well able to deal with the water in vegetables and meat, so it’s digestive power is not diluted by these foods.
Thanks Kathryn! Eating more slowly is also helps one appreciate a meal. The health effects of appreciation are probably not measurable, but surely vastly beneficial!
Thank you for your answer, Kathryn.
I think I explained myself poorly earlier. Let me try again.
Drinking water while eating does dilute the acids, but they work nonetheless. Does eating meat dilute the acids, in the same way? While I know most food has water, it seems it would take more work to free it. That is, what form does the water in meat take? Is it a part of larger molecules?
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