If you have ever wondered if it is good or bad to drink water after meals, in this article we answer one of the most common doubts or questions.
If at any time you have wondered, or in short you have been interested in it, it is quite possible that you have already realized how controversial the issue of water consumption at meals is, and not only during meals, but also before and after. In fact, in a previous note we already dealt with this controversial issue; or almost better, we answered one of the questions that tend to raise the most doubts: is it bad to drink water with meals? As we already mentioned in this article, it is not appropriate to drink excess water during meals, since we would intervene in the digestion process in a negative way. That is, it is not bad to drink water with meals if we do not overdo it.
Why? Very simple: each part of our digestive system has –and carries out- a different function. For this reason, our stomach creates an acidic environment in which ingested food decomposes, making it difficult for bacteria to survive. However, if we drink a lot of water (or ultimately any other liquid) we will cause an increase in the pH of our stomach, so the digestion process will be impaired.
Of course, so that the water does not affect it is not advisable to drink liquids while we have food in our mouth, since it would affect the production of Ptyalin, which is an enzyme that regulates digestion, regulated through the salivary glands and necessary so that the solid food becomes fluffy and softer when chewed, for later swallowing. So if we drink water while we have food in our mouth, this enzyme will not flow normally, so its effect on the regulatory process of digestion will not be the same.
But what happens after meals? Is it equally adequate, or counterproductive?
Many nutritionists advise drinking water from 1 hour after meals, so that digestive juices remain undiluted and thus can properly digest food. That is, it is better to drink water or any other liquid leaving a small margin after meals, and never do it immediately.
