Drinking Water With Meals- Good Or Bad For You?

There is one view that says drinking water with meals aid digestion, while another says that it hinders digestion. So what is the real truth about drinking water with meals – is it good for you or bad for you?

For digestion, food has be broken down and for this it has to be liquified and dissolved. This job is done firstly by saliva in the stomach and then by the digestive juices in the stomach. Drinking water with your meals is not really going to help in the process of digestion because the body is well able to secrete and reabsorb the fluids that it needs to do the job.

What water may do is, it may make it easier to swallow the food, however according to Dr. Braden Kuo, director of the GI Motility Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, this impact is moderate to minimal.

Water doesn’t hinder digestion either, since there is no evidence to show that it dilutes digestive juices. Does it give a feeling of fullness though, making you eat less? Well it could work if you drink a great deal of water right before a meal, which may have the best chance of stretching the stomach and making you feel full.