Water with Meals

Why can't you drink water with meals?  My doctor never told me and I just don't get it. I can barely get in 32 oz. of water a day and it makes it more difficult with this rule of no drinking 30 min before and after or during meals?  I don't feel like it makes me eat more food or that I get hungry quicker so peeps whats the deal????

When you drink with your meals, you'll "flush" or "wash" the food from your pouch into your intestines.  So you will not feel full for as long and you'll get hungry sooner.  This is not as much of an issue early out, as your pouch is small and your capacity is very limited.  But it can become an issue further out and it's a bad habit to get into.  Early out (say first 3-4 months) I didn't worry about this as much, but now (2 1/2+ years post-op) I try to follow this particular rule pretty closely.  When I don't, I can definitely eat more because the food I eat is not staying in my pouch as long.   That, my peep, is the deal!  This is one rule that pretty consistent from surgeon to surgeon, so I'd encourage you to work on following this one!   Good luck on your continuing journey - Kellie

Sometimes knowing the reason WHY we are required to do something helps us be more compliant with the rules.  In a normal stomach there is a pylorus valve that keeps the food inside the stomach as it begins digestion.  When food is processed enough to be released into the intestine, the pylorus opens and lets a small amount of food through.  More processing, pylorus opens again, more processing... etc.  In a normal size stomach the process of releasing food into the small intestine can take 1 to 2 hours depending on the size of your meal and the texture of the food you ate.  Remember that the size of a normal stomach is about the size of a football or slightly larger. After RNY, we no longer have a pylorus valve, so we need to do the work of that "trapdoor" on our own.  The best way to keep food in the pouch for a while is to eat dense, solid food that is not mixed with liquid.  Think of your pouch as a funnel.  If you add dense food to the top bowl of a funnel, the food will very slowly be pushed through the small funnel opening -- but as soon as you add water to that food, it becomes a soupy, mushy mess that'll go through the funnel opening very quickly.   So the reason we don't drink with meals is: 1. To keep the food in our pouch as long as possible to keep us feeling full for longer and also to allow food to mix with digestive enzymes from our saliva and begin breaking down for digestion. 2. We want to avoid forcing food through that funnel opening (the Stoma) before it's ready to go.  If you force food through the Stoma by drinking with meals you will eventually stretch the Stoma opening.  Stretching the Stoma is much worse than stretching the pouch and something we should be most worried about.  If you stretch the Stoma to the same size opening as the pouch is, you essentially have a 20-foot long intestine that is acting as your new stomach instead of a tiny pouch and stoma opening.  Guess how much you can eat when  you have a 20-foot stomach??  :-) The Stoma is usually about the diameter of a lady's index finger and the pouch is about the size of a golf ball or lime.   HTH Pam

Thank you so much.  I will be much more careful in following this rule now that I know it has negative long term consequences. Your answer was very informative and educational.  Thanks!

Pam that was super informative, Thank you twice over. I am 10 months out and doing well, have hit the weight that we set for me. But I still do drink small amounts with meals. I am just always thirsty when I eat. I have been a huge water drinker before surgery also. It is the hardest thing for me to do. I do feel like when put the way you put it about the stoma possible getting stretched makes sense. I guess I always thought it was just dont drink water cause it pushes the food through quicker. But now I do feel more informed. Again tahnk you for the additional information you provided.