# drinking water after a eating **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 20, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782 "2003-03-20T11:41:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@rao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rao)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/1 "2003-03-20T11:41:46Z")
Is it good to drink water immediately after or during eating? ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/2 "2003-03-20T12:00:27Z")
Drink while eating. Europeans drive me batty by swearing that you should eat only after eating. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/3 "2003-03-20T12:04:42Z")
Well, **rao,** I can’t tell exactly what you mean, so I’ll have to dodge around a bit. Drinking water in reasonable amounts is good anytime, whether eating or not. If your goal is eating less, drinking water before a meal will lend a full feeling and discourage overeating. If that’s not what you meant, I need more information. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Skinny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Skinny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skinny)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/4 "2003-03-20T12:08:02Z")
As a bike racer in training, I’ve read up on eating and drinking on the bike and how best to do it. There are some concentrated foods out there like power bars and gels that have a lot of good stuff in them with little water content, the result is a lot of blood being sent to your stomach to digest it. This can actually have an adverse affect if you are trying to keep all the blood you can going to your legs to keep you moving. Drinking water helps break it down faster and keeps your blood thinner and moving around, if you read the label on a power bar it will say drink 8-12oz with it. My guess is if you eat without drinking water you will probably just get that sleepy feeling. -Skinny ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/5 "2003-03-20T13:27:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mort Furd \* > \*\*Drink while eating. Europeans drive me batty by swearing that you should eat only after eating. \*\* Well, hooey. … by swearingthat you should DRINK only after eating.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/6 "2003-03-20T17:59:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skinny \* > \*\* There are some concentrated foods out there like power bars and gels that have a lot of good stuff in them with little water content, the result is a lot of blood being sent to your stomach to digest it. \*\* What in the world does is this supposed to mean? Digestion does not send blood to your stomach. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/7 "2003-03-20T18:15:39Z")
**Mort Furt** , Say what you will, as a fan of beer, I will insist that I only drink after drinking! 😃 **rao** , water aids greatly in digestion. Before, during, or after will make little difference. may I suggest a beer 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/8 "2003-03-20T18:18:53Z")
I think this was in that Diamond chap’s “Fit for Life.” One of his pillars was “It’s bad to drink [anything] while you eat because it washes away digestive enzymes, and thus your body doesn’t realize all the nutrients that it could.” I haven’t read that book. I’m basing this on a decade-old memory from someone who did read the book–although I can’t say for a fact that he said that that particular aspect of his wacky eating habits came from the book. ---
**Author:** ![Skinny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Skinny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skinny)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/9 "2003-03-20T23:56:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > \*\*What in the world does is this supposed to mean? Digestion does not send blood to your stomach. \*\* Well, I’m only repeating what I’ve read in my research, it might be an oversimplification. To simplify it even more, it takes energy to digest, it takes more energy to digest solid foods then it does to digest watery foods. Blood is pumped all over your body and the stomach uses it too, I didn’t say it’s pumped into your stomach just too the stomach. When you only have a limited amount of energy in racing, you don’t want any of it going to breaking down big chunks of concentrated food stuff, water breaks it down and lest the stomach digest it faster using less energy. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Disguise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@No\_Disguise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Disguise)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/10 "2003-03-21T08:42:54Z")
eating bean and cheese burritos with a lot of water will give you the runs ---
**Author:** ![Arturas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@Arturas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arturas)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/11 "2003-03-21T11:23:21Z")
Having glaucoma and a taste for dried fruit, I guarantee that if you do not drink water with dry food, expecially dehydrated, the food will absorb water from the blood. How do I know? Because in three days I get a headache from the increased eye pressure (better medication has helped in this respect, so no need to worry about me) and the only solution is drinking water for three days, quarts of water. Failure to drink enough water results in poor digestion, leaving a nice quantity for the anaerobic bacteria (result: gas. Incidentally, eating nuts with dried fruit and water keeps you from doing the same thing since the nuts also need water but do not retain the necessary water long enough) and dehydration, which makes you slow witted and lifeless (not just while you are digesting for a couple of hours but until you start drinking, thus I know the food absorbs the water). Oddly I rarely drank water as a child with few bad effects. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-water-after-a-eating/162782/12 "2003-03-21T11:50:50Z")
Drinking a glass or two of water before eating is a slimmer’s trick to eat less - you’ll feel full faster.