7 Reasons to Drink Water Before Eating

Every living creature on the planet needs water. From the smallest plant to the largest animal, water is essential for life.

Before even going over the research, it makes sense that adding more hydration to your lifestyle is always a good thing. But fortunately for us, there’s research that shows drinking water before eating is the right move.

Rather than merely telling you that you should indulge in hydrogen water before each meal, we’ll examine some of the studies showing why you should quench thirst before hunger.

1. Drinking water before each meal could help control weight.

During a trial conducted in the UK back in 2015, some of the obese subjects drank 500 ml of tap water, or around 2 cups, before every meal. The remainder of the subjects were told to imagine that their stomachs were full.

Over the course of this experiment (12 weeks), the subjects who drank water before dropped an average of 2.5 pounds more than those in the group told to picture full stomachs. While this isn’t a massive difference, it’s still rather intriguing that drinking before eating can help people control their weight.

2. The idea that drinking water dilutes stomach acid and digestive enzymes is false.

Some people claim that drinking before or with food isn’t good for the digestive system. They believe that water can make your stomach acid and digestive enzymes less potent by diluting them.

With this claim comes the idea that the digestive system cannot adapt its secretions to the water content of a meal. The truth of the matter is that this is a typical body function that allows the body to handle digestion, regardless of how much liquid is in your diet.

During one study, the researchers sought to find how liquid meals would affect the body’s physiological response to a meal. The findings suggest that the gastric, pancreatic, and biliary responses to liquid meals differ significantly from the reaction the body has to typical solid-liquid meals.

3. Liquids don’t actually result in poor digestion.

Another well-known argument people use to discourage drinking water with meals is that more fluid results in faster exit of waste. The idea is that the meal’s time in the stomach acid and digestive enzymes is shorter as a result of the liquid. In turn, digestion becomes more difficult.

However, there’s no scientific backing supporting this idea.

Instead, there was a study that analyzed some stomachs as they were emptying. These stomachs belonged to patients who were struggling with clinical gastric outlet obstruction.

During this study, the researchers analyzed both combined and selective abnormalities for gastric emptying of liquids and solids. While the liquids go through the digestive system faster than solids, they were not observed impacting the digestion speed of solid food.

4. Water could help with the digestion process.

Water is responsible for breaking down food. The liquid also assists in getting the food down the esophagus and into the stomach. In essence, water acts as part of the digestive process.

Instead of your body being a clunky machine, it’s well-lubricated to help you avoid problems. For example, you could experience bloating and constipation without enough water in your diet.

Another critical role water plays in digestion is how the stomach secretes water, gastric acid, and digestive enzymes for digestive purposes. Water is essential for ensuring these enzymes function appropriately.

5. Drinking water first can help control appetite and calorie intake.

Including water with meals can give you the pause you need to check your hunger and fullness signs. Rather than overeating, you can sense when you’re done eating and stop sooner as a result.

Some research also shows how drinking water before meals could increase your metabolism rate. Some people experience an increase of 24 calories being burned for every 17 ounces of water they drink before meals. This is the result of water-induced thermogenesis.

It’s also possible to increase the number of calories a person burns by drinking cold water. The number of calories burned decreases if the water is body temperature. Researchers believe that this could be the result of the body using more energy as it heats cold water to body temperature.

6. You can feel fuller when you drink water before eating.

Drinking water before food will help you feel fuller before you eat, acting as an excellent appetite suppressant. However, drinking small amounts of water at random times can have the opposite effect.

Feeling dehydrated after drinking some water can make your body think that you need to eat. The truth of the matter is that you only need some additional water. But most of the time, people don’t know any better and eat to counteract the effects of dehydration when all they need is some water.

7. You can add molecular hydrogen to your diet by drinking a pouch before you eat.

Adding hydrogen water to your diet is easy to do. Simply pop open a pouch and drink the contents. It’s fast, easy, and unbelievably convenient to add molecular hydrogen to your diet this way, and you’ll experience a load of impressive hydrogen water benefits.