Although water has many health benefits, it shouldn’t be drank immediately after meals. In addition to raising insulin levels, it might hinder digestion.
It has been widely debated when and how much water should be consumed before, with, and after meals. Several glasses of water are frequently consumed with each meal by many people, perhaps in an effort to wash the food down and aid with digestion. However, dietitians adamantly disagree with the idea and do so globally. Numerous investigations have shown that the treatment severely hinders digestion by weakening essential stomach secretions and raising insulin levels.
Drinking water before meals, drinking water during meals, and drinking water after meals are the three items at risk in this scenario.Reputable nutritionist Dr. Anju Sood claims that digestion normally requires two hours.
Before leaving your body, the meal passes through your esophagus, stomach, and colon. Our digestive tract has a specific fluid-to-solid ratio. In addition to lowering the fluid content of your food, drinking water before meals hastens the digestion process because the food now enters the big intestine much earlier than it should. Water is not recommended to be consumed just before a meal.Additionally, she is adamantly opposed to the idea of drinking water with meals because it both expedites digestion and hinders the body’s regular absorption of nutrients afterward. She continued by saying that certain people who drink water with meals have a tendency to have an enlarged colon.
“By drinking water immediately following meals, you are again interfering with the normal period of time that it takes for food to break down,” says Dr. Sood in reference to the detrimental repercussions of doing so. Additionally, you start to feel hungry sooner than usual as a result of this, which results in overeating and bloating. She suggests departing 30 minutes prior to and following meals.During these 30 minutes, your system advances to the following phase of digestion.Studies show that it’s crucial to maintain a gap after meals since it helps the body absorb critical nutrients. When ingested right after a meal, water tends to dilute gastric juice. Despite the fact that our stomachs are effective at absorbing water, consuming too much water after meals dilutes the enzymes that are essential for healthy digestion. In reaction, the release of digestive enzymes is reduced, which can lead to acid reflux and heartburn.
Due to the impaired digestion process, a great volume of food enters the system uneaten. The glucose in this unprocessed diet gets converted to fat by your body and stored there. As a result of this process, the body produces more insulin, which elevates blood sugar levels and increases the risk of diabetes and obesity.Because of this, it’s important to stay hydrated and consume at least two liters of water each day, but you also need to be aware of when to consume the special beverage.