Do you like to have a coke with a big meal or a beer with a hamburger? Continue reading

Some say that drinking drinks with your digestion depends on meal aids, while others say it can lead to various health problems. Can drinking a can of soda or a glbad of water throughout your meals really affect your health and digestion? We reveal the answer. Here's how drinking different liquids in your meals can affect your health and digestion.

Do liquids cause digestive problems?

Drinking enough fluids throughout the day is definitely good for your health. However, some say that timing is important and drinking fluids around meals and with meals is a bad idea.

Here are three types of drinks / drinks and their effects on our health and digestion:

Alcohol and acidic drinks can negatively affect saliva
Drinking alcohol and other acidic beverages during meals reduces the production of saliva in the mouth, which prevents the body from digesting it. Alcohol decreases saliva flow by 10 to 15% per unit of alcohol. Although this only applies to highly alcoholic beverages and not to low-alcohol drinks such as wine and beer.

When consumed in moderation, neither alcoholic beverages nor acidic beverages can cause indigestion or poor absorption of nutrients.

Water

It is believed that drinking water with meals dilutes stomach acid and digestive enzymes, which makes digestion of food by the body difficult. Although there is no scientific support to support this statement.

Other liquids
Many arguments claim that liquids increase the rate at which various foods come out of the stomach. This is said to reduce the contact time of the meal with stomach acid and digestive enzymes, resulting in poor digestion.

Although this claim does not have scientific backup.

In some cases, liquids can improve digestion
When you eat liquids, it is easier for food to slip into the esophagus and enter the stomach. It also prevents bloating and constipation. In fact, it takes water to promote good digestion because our stomach also secretes water as well as other gastric juices and digestive enzymes to digest food.

Water can help reduce appetite and caloric intake
When you take a break to drink water between your meals, you have the opportunity to check your level of hunger and satiety. This can help prevent overeating and thus promote weight loss.

A 12-week study showed that people who drank 500 ml of water before each meal lost 2 kilos more than those who did not.

Research has also shown that drinking water speeds up your metabolism by 24 calories per 500 ml of water you consume. Do not forget that all this applies only to water and not to other drinks containing calories. In fact, when people consume sugary drinks at the same time as meals, their caloric intake increases by 8 to 15%.

People who should not drink water with meals
Drinking water with meals does not have a negative impact on digestion in most people. But if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), fluids taken with meals are not good for you.

In fact, liquids add volume to the stomach, which can increase pressure in the stomach, just like a hearty meal. This can lead to acid reflux in people with GERD.