Is drinking beverages with meals a good idea?

Recently I read an article in which the author recommended having a glass of water in the middle of a meal in order help with weight loss. The idea being that you fill up on water and therefore eat less. I have a better suggestion: drink a glass or two of water half an hour before eating a meal to hydrate,   promote satiety and prevent over-eating. As a nutritionist, I do not necessarily recommend drinking water, especially a full glass, with a meal. And here is why.

If the water is cold, it closes capillaries and water at any temperature moves faster through your system than food, so food mixed with it doesn’t have a chance to break down and get properly absorbed.

Fruit juices and sweetened beverages are most easily digested when consumed at least 30 minutes before or three hours after a meal. Unsweetened drinks such as water and herbal teas may be sipped with meals without any impairment of digestion, provided they are taken when the mouth is empty and water is not used to dilute or wash down food. Thorough chewing is needed both to mix salivary amylase with starches in order to start their digestion and to break down food particles finely enough to prepare them for enzymatic activity further down. Drinking liquids through food impairs this process.

Drinking water about 30 minutes before a meal will keep the body hydrated resulting in optimal digestion, and aids in optimal liver performance. Similarly, drinking water 30 minutes after can assist in hydrating the body at the elimination end of the digestive system as well as replenish fluid lost during digestion.

Alcoholic and other acidic beverages like soda tend to dry up the saliva making it more difficult to properly digest food, so these drinks will impair the digestive process when taken with food.

Some experts claim that drinking with meals dilutes stomach acid. However this is not likely to be true. Gastric fluid contains only about 0.2 to 0.5 per cent hydrochloric acid. To make a significant difference in this concentration would take an impossible amount of fluid. The acid itself doesn’t do the digesting; it is the pepsin, which the acid activates, that does the digesting.

While timing can be important, it is never a good idea to eat a meal when you are dehydrated because the digestive system requires that the body be well hydrated to function properly. If you do choose to sip water with your meal, warm water is better than cold. Adding some lemon or apple cider vinegar to a glass of water can aid digestion even further. Start your day with a glass of warm lemon water can have a number of health benefits, not least of which is hydrating after a night's sleep.