WHEN TO DRINK

At the start of this book, the concepts of normal digestion and proper food combining were addressed. It was also mentioned that large amounts of water with a meal were not desirable, and could inhibit normal digestion. This is a bit ironic, since many individuals actually think that drinking a lot of water with meals is a good di­gestive habit. This is not the case. Even though most foods have very large amounts of water in them, the concept of having just enough water in the stomach at the time of digestion must be ad­dressed. As with just about every other rule in human physiology, too much is just as undesirable as too little. Water will certainly be absorbed fairly quickly, but it is still very capable of minimizing or

The Need for Water 115

cutting short essential digestive enzyme activity by simple dilution. The less concentrated the enzymes are in the digestive juice sur­rounding the food, the less rapidly and effectively digestion will proceed. Furthermore, the digestive cells of the stomach lining do not have an unlimited capacity to keep on producing enough addi­tional enzymes to maintain the needed concentrations in the stom­ach in the face of additional ingested water.

Water is also often consumed with ice, and very cold water will further slow enzyme activity. Within certain ranges, heat reliably ac­celerates enzyme activity, and cold will reliably slow enzyme activ­ity. Water also dilutes the acid levels in the stomach, further slowing the activity level of the acid-triggered protein-busting enzymes. Thus, concentration, production, and activity of gastric enzymes are all unfavorably affected by water drinking with meals.

With drinking water, as with so many other things, timing is everything, or at least, timing is very important. Generally, water can be consumed in almost unlimited quantities before a meal, as long as a previous meal or large snack was not eaten too recently. The best time to drink a large amount of water is first thing in the morning, upon arising. Try to drink at least a couple of tall glasses. It doesn't have to be done all at once; you can drink it over what­ever period of time elapses until you first eat. If you can, shoot for a quart of water to start off the day. If you have a medical problem that you think might somehow be aggravated by such water con­sumption, check with your doctor first. However, as discussed above, drinking large amounts of water (between meals) should help most medical problems.

After most meals of moderate size and only minimal to moderate meat protein consumption, you can resume drinking water two to three hours after eating. However, if you indulge in a large amount of steak, you might have to wait four to six hours to resume signif­icant water consumption. All degrees of compromise can be reached in your individual situation. Ifs okay to take frequent small sips of

116 Optimal Nutrition for Optimal Health

water with and immediately following a meal, or you can com­pletely abstain until you drink a full glass of water a few hours later. You will rapidly learn what amounts of water and what timing of its drinking relative to your meals will agree with your digestion best. Whenever you cause a stomach that feels perfectly settled after a well-combined and properly eaten meal to get even a little bit upset after drinking your water, then you know your water amount and timing of drinking are not in sync with your digestion. Typi­cally, too much water will cause a well-settled stomach to develop gas and belching, along with an acid burning sensation with the belching. You also may just feel more bloated without any of these other symptoms.

You should maintain this pattern of water drinking throughout the day. You certainly should not just drink a huge amount of water first thing in the morning and quit for the day. How sensitive your bladder is will determine how close you can continue drinking your water before going to bed. Remember that you need very little time before a meal to drink as much water as you want.