Drinking with meals

good day everyone!  I have a question.  I keep reading that you cannot drink with your meals, but I've never seen a reason why not?  What does it do?  I would like to know!  Thanks and have a great day!

 Every surgeon set up their own guideline of stop drinking fluids 30-60 min. before and after eating.  This is so your nutrients can be naturally absorbed w/o being washed away from liquids either already in your stomach - or - drinking after your eat.  You want your nutrients to be naturally processed through your stomach - as much as you can.  

Should you need to do anything, you can sip fluid to help you swallow food, etc.  I usually take a sip or two of hubbys' soda in order to relieve the gas in my stomach - belching helps relieve this.  Good luck.

Drinking with meals is not an issue for DSers.

Red

Personally I think that drinking and meals should not be done even if you HAVEN'T had surgery.  It can "wash" way any nutrients or move foods through quickly as stated and you may be hungry sooner since your food is not in your stomach as long. But many people even RNYers do drink and eat.  I sometimes take a sip or two if I feel something is getting stuck BUT for me...if I do attempt to drink after eating makes me feel sick.  It's really a personal choice just like drinking soda or not.  You have to choose what is good for you once you know the reasons behind the questions. For example..tons of people stop taking vitamins..and I speak for myself..I stopped for over a year and now Im having deficiencies..didn't REALLY know this would happen...because I thought I'd have what I need in my foods however this is not the case and Im track with the vitamin..this is for life. Best of luck to you!

As another side note, it's not just about not absorbing the nutrients.  According to my surgeon and nut. it's because it forces the food down before it has a chance to be better digested and broken down as well.  This can cause stretching at the exit from your pouch -- big no no that long term could result in some weight gain back.   I've also been told and shown pics / x-rays of it causing a "second pouch" from someone doing sipping.   What happens is the little bit of fluid pushes the fluid past the pouch and into the beginning of the intestine, thus stretching the top of the intestine to great another small pouch.  It looks like an hourglass.   Pouch on top of pouch with the exit inbetween the two causing the drawn in look of the hourglass.

Pretty much... don't do it.  It's bad news.   However, I will admit this is something I also really struggle with.

If you are referring to Lap Band... You stat full longer by allowing the food to stay in the pouch longer before washing it through.  I am supposed to wait 20-30 minutes to drink after eating.

I don't buy into the 'washing the nutrients' out.   That would mean not absorbing any nutrients...and if you don't absorb nutrients then you also don't absorb calories.  And you do not abosorb either in the stomach.   The magic happens in the intestines.  And beleive me, water will NOT wash away the calories.  And the bottom line is calories.  Too  many, and up ya go. 

I am 6 years out and I still do not drink with meals.  We no longer have a pyloric valve (with RNY) that opens and closes and allows food to be slowly released into the digestive system.  If you drink fluids with dense foods, then whoosh, the foods do wash away.  The premis is, keep dense foods in the pouch longer to stay NOT hungry longer.  If we get hungry, we eat.  So guess what happens.  We begin to eat more because we drink with food and it keeps us hungry. 

But, we all have different beliefs and ideas about things.  You figure out what you believe....and go with it.