# Does the stuff I drink act as a catalyst for digestion of my food? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2000, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105 "2000-06-30T02:05:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Llardball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Llardball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llardball)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/1 "2000-06-30T02:05:06Z")
If I eat a donut, which takes a good while to digest (because of fat), does drinking water help me digest it faster? Also, if I drink, say, a pint of water, then a pint of Gatorade, will the Gatorade help me absorb the water quicker becuase of the sugar? I know that Gatorade claims to be absorbed quicker than water so will it help in absorption? The reason I am asking is because I will sometimes eat food at about 9:00 at night. I want to go to bed at 10:00 and I know that if I sleep on a full stomach, the food will just turn to fat (Lord knows I don’t need any of that, look at my name). Anyway, I thought maybe if I drank water or something that it would aid digestion and my body would absorb the food quickly. Am I kidding myself or what? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/2 "2000-06-30T02:44:01Z")
\>\> Am I kidding myself or what? Yes. Calories ingested earlier in the day are not so readily turned into fat as those ingested later in the day but this does not mean there is a _huge_ difference, just a small difference. As far as drinking liquids I have never seen anything that would indicate any efect one way or another. In China there’s a common belief that you should not drink liquids with your meals because the liquids would dilute your gastric secretions and hinder digestion but I have never heard this theory supported in western circles. ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/3 "2000-06-30T05:55:05Z")
Drink at least thee gallons of water a day in addition to two or three liters with each meal. Of course liquids aid digestion. Lay off the donuts and eat at least 5 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables EVERY day and eat nothing else but dry, unsalted popcorn amd celery. Start exercising. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/4 "2000-06-30T07:14:57Z")
Ok, I’ve heard that it’s a good idea to always drink plenty of fluids, but mightn’t that be going a bit overboard, tcburnett? I mean, 2 or 3 liters of water with a meal isn’t going to leave you much room in your stomach for food, and then three gallons in addition to beverages with meals? The _Boy Scout Handbook_ recommends 6 to 8 glasses a day, which works out to only about a gallon, and that’s for folks who’re outside, active, in the sun all day. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/5 "2000-06-30T07:53:21Z")
…and tcburnett’s sig line came to life! I’m not kidding, it sprang up out of the message, and ate Chronos! Why doesn’t anyone believe me? ---
**Author:** ![Needs2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5e925/32.png) [@Needs2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Needs2know)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/6 "2000-06-30T12:44:10Z")
This might have been the idea behind “grapefruit diets” and vinegar drinks. Acidic liquids like vinegar and citrus juices are used in marinades because they start the cooking process chemically. Don’t ask me how it works. But as for being of any benefit in aiding digestion I think it’s been proved that is not true or very negligent. You do realize that Gatoraide is loaded with salt don’t you? It would be my thought that Gatoraide is a sports drink and should be used as such, when you are exerting yourself and sweating. I’d never sit around and just drink the stuff. Talk about retaining fluid! Needs2know ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/7 "2000-06-30T12:52:06Z")
> [@](#): > > You do realize that Gatoraide is loaded with salt don’t you? You mean it’s not made with alligator juice? Isn’t that false advertising? ---
**Author:** ![Needs2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5e925/32.png) [@Needs2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Needs2know)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/8 "2000-06-30T13:01:06Z")
Gatoraide…No I used to think it was made with baby pee. It sure as heck reminded me of it. Now it comes in all kinds of “flavors” and colors. If you can call the stuff flavored at all. This did start me thinking though about citrus juices and cranberry juice in particular. You’d be better off to drink that because it at least has a mild diuretic effect. Don’t ask me why but it will make you tinkle and at least loose a few ounces in fluid build up. Might not be the best choice for a before bed liquid though. Or you could drink prune juice. I think you know what that will do for you. Needs2know ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/9 "2000-06-30T13:32:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > You do realize that Gatoraide is loaded with salt don’t you? > > You mean it’s not made with alligator juice? Isn’t that false advertising? > \*\* You get a point for that one! ---
**Author:** ![Sn-man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sn-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sn-man)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/10 "2000-06-30T13:43:06Z")
Have you seen the latest release from John Hopkins. They have come across a compound that when injected into mice causes weight loss consistant with fasting. The chemical seems to block the production of neuropeptide Y. They don’t know if it effects humans the same way, but will be doing more testing. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/11 "2000-06-30T17:42:45Z")
Quoth jb\_farley: > [@](#): > > …and tcburnett’s sig line came to life! I’m not kidding, it sprang up out of the message, and ate Chronos! Why doesn’t anyone believe me? Um, yeah, I realized that it was sarcasm… I just wanted to prevent some other poor fool who didn’t realize from falling for it… yeah, that’s the ticket! hehehe ---
**Author:** ![Asmodeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@Asmodeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asmodeus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/12 "2000-06-30T18:15:35Z")
Wine is a great aid in digetion. Actually any fruit juice is. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2000, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-stuff-i-drink-act-as-a-catalyst-for-digestion-of-my-food/24105/13 "2000-07-01T00:26:28Z")
The basic equation is calories ingested vs. calories burned. Other things (sleep, fruit juice) have very little, if any, effect. If it really bothers you, don’t eat the donut. As it doesn’t bother me (and as I’m 20 and still have a reasonable good metabolism), I’ll be crumbling homemade brownies into Vanilla ice cream tonight . . . Mmmmmmm, brownies!