Drinking Water with Meals?

[Pinkylee 7]

:confused: Why are we cautioned not to drink Water with meals?

I'd like a few small sips at least. Will this slow down weight loss?

[socalgal3 4]

Cuz it washes the food right through the tummy! This is one of the harder things for me to "swallow" about this surgery!

[Pinkylee 7]

Thanks for response I was afraid it might enlarge the pouch and cut weight loss. Is that possible?

[Stitchy 0]

OK. This is the deal. Your "I'm full" sensors are located at the top of the stomach - your new little pouch. You want food to stay there awhile so you will feel full longer. It takes 20-30 minutes for your brain to get the message that you have eaten. If you drink Water with your meal, it will wash right down into your lower stomach and you won't feel full.

If your food is dry, take a sip but it would be better if you use a dipping sauce like canned gravy, salad dressing, BBQ Sauce, sour cream. You won't be using much of them so don't worry about calories.

Thanks for response I was afraid it might enlarge the pouch and cut weight loss. Is that possible?

Since we are supposed to drink 64 ounces of Water a day, I don't think water is going to stretch the pouch.

[sallyjo 0]

I can drink up until about five minutes before meals. If you do that you will not be thirsty when you eat. This was my biggest worry when I got banded because I was a big ice tea drinker. Did'nt bother me at all and my food, I actually taste it:)

[sarabluebell 0]

thanks all this info really helps me

[giveyouthemoon 4]

Also, on area that doesn't get discussed...but even before I was banded I'd stopped drinking with meals as without the liquid, your body is better able to digest and absorb nutrients. It's helpful all around.

And really, it's only weird to get used to at first and after a while you don't even miss it.

[Jachut 487]

I still do it. Well, generally I dont drink a glass of Water with my meal but I do drink pretty soon after. Sometimes I have a glass of wine with dinner, especially if I'm out.

Someone explained this well for me a while ago becuase I couldnt figure out what difference it made whether you flushed food out of your pouch within five minutes of a meal or an hour, it equalled the same thing, but I think it was Deirdre who said that you need to give your brain time to register fullness which is the reason behind wanting to keep your pouch full for a while.

I generally find though that I dont have a problem with this, that fullness generally happens before I drink. And of course, at the rate you drink wine (which is the only thing I'd drink with a meal, apart from perhaps a coffee with a sandwich at lunch time) it doesnt flush anything, its only sips.

So short answer, no, it makes no difference to me, I still do it and I'm still losing weight.

[disneynut 0]

I drink a little with my meal, a few sips here and there and I drink a little after meals as well. I'm not talking like a big glass of anything, but I don't find I am getting hungry any quicker either. That nice full feeling is with me for a few hours whether I drink a little or not. I try not to drink during or shortly after meals, but I find this a very difficult thing for me to change.

[Jachut 487]

Interestingly, as with the carbonation, the Protein first etc this is not something that was even mentioned to me here in Australia. I got no "rules" from my surgeon at all. Suits me, because then I dont feel like I'm breaking any, lol.

[Randi L 0]

I used to gulp ice Water. I worried about not being able to drink it during meals. At this point - 3 weeks in to this, I have to force myself to drink, just to get as much as I can in.

I'm aware that it's best to drink 64 ounces a day, and I try - but I doubt I've actually hit it.

Not drinking during meals to get the "I'm full" feeling? Wow! I still don't feel full. Ever. Hope I will after a fill.

[Kat817 19]

For me drinking while I am eating is a personal invitation to a guaranteed golfball feeling...and a PB if I push it! I am guessing it maybe floats the food I have already eaten up to the top of my pouch and into the esophogus (like I say just guessing!), and ewwwww not a good feeling!! Made it very easy for me not to drink and eat together!!

Kat

[hulia goolia 0]

I stay fuller so much longer if I don't drink for 1-2 hours after meals. I don't find it any different to dring right before. The way I see it, it flows right down anyway.

[Stitchy 0]

With all of this don't drink before or after meals, and unless you don't want to be up at night, don't drink before going to bed, it makes it really hard to get in 64 oz. I can't do it, but I am drinking more Water than pre-banding.

[DonnaB 3]

For me drinking while I am eating is a personal invitation to a guaranteed golfball feeling...and a PB if I push it! I am guessing it maybe floats the food I have already eaten up to the top of my pouch and into the esophogus (like I say just guessing!), and ewwwww not a good feeling!! Made it very easy for me not to drink and eat together!!

Kat

More likely it presses too much food down into the stoma area creating the golfball feeling, just as if you'd taken too big a bite or didn't chew well enough.

This is the 'no drinking for an hour after eating' explanation that made the most sense to me (and provides a lovely visual!):

Think of your pouch and stoma like a funnel. You pour Water into the funnel and it runs right through and out. If you put mushy stuff (chewed up food) into the funnel then pour Water on top, it pushes the mushy stuff into the narrow part of the funnel clogging it up; nowhere for the water to go but over the top and out - PB city.

If you take a small bite and chew it up well, then pour in some water behind it, the water will wash the food through the stoma and into the stomach - so much for the full feeling achieved with a band. If you chew your food well and follow each bite with water, you're defeating the purpose of the band.

Having said all that, I think that taking a small sip, occasionally, won't hurt anything. Unfortunately, we food addicts don't do "occasionally" very well.