Philosophical Vegan Forum

Lately, I've heard some vegans advising not to consume a significant amount of fluid with, or directly after a meal. Supposedly, doing so dilutes stomach acid, hindering digestion and nutrient absorption, but I've seen no evidence to support this.

Some of the folks here seem knowledgeable about nutrition. Thoughts?

Drinking with meals can make it harder to eat enough, or help you eat less depending on how you look at it.

I doubt any other effects are substantial unless you're drinking liters of water. Diluting is also distinct from neutralizing, in the chemical sense. Diluted acid can still work, but you can accidentally neutralize stomach acids with high calcium consumption during meals.

Unless you have a medical problem, your stomach can pretty much take care of what you eat regardless of if you drink while doing so or not, by moderating the amount of acids and fluids introduced.

I've read that drinking extensive amounts of water is bad for you, so, you know, everything in moderation as they say. I drink fruit juice for most meals and sometimes water, and I'm fine.

RedAppleGP wrote:I've read that drinking extensive amounts of water is bad for you

Drinking a lot of water in a short timespan can lead to water intoxication. We're talking about huge amounts here, though. As long as you just drink water whenever you feel like drinking something you'll never drink too much.

miniboes wrote:

RedAppleGP wrote:I've read that drinking extensive amounts of water is bad for you

Drinking a lot of water in a short timespan can lead to water intoxication. We're talking about huge amounts here, though. As long as you just drink water whenever you feel like drinking something you'll never drink too much.

Oh, like if someone were dying of dehydration?
I'm pretty sure it was obvious that when you feel thirsty, you're body needs some fluids. Doesn't matter which, but water preferably.

RedAppleGP wrote:Oh, like if someone were dying of dehydration? .

You can read about how it works here: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/water-intoxication#1

I'm pretty sure it was obvious that when you feel thirsty, you're body needs some fluids. Doesn't matter which, but water preferably.

A bit of a nitpick, but you do actually need water specifically; whether the food is fluid or not doesn't matter. Fluids only satisfy thirst if they contain water. Olive oil, for example is a fluid but it won't help if you're thirsty, while apples are not fluid but do help with thirst.

Watermelon is over 90 percent water. Don't eat it though, unless it's dehydrated, right? Sure that makes sense.

Soups are considered one of the easier meals to digest, and have been said to improve digestion too. They contain more water than the average dish. I think people who have indigestion, which is often caused by eating raw plants, are thinking water is the issue, but maybe they need to eat more soup instead of all salad. I pretty much eat all soup and have no indigestion.