Why could it be wrong to say "Drink a glass of water before your meal"?

Are you saying that anyone says it is wrong?

It can make you feel full so you don’t eat as much. It’s a dieting strategy.

Some people think it’s bad for children, because then they eat less of their meal.

In Ayurveda it’s said that too much liquid dilutes the digestive fire and can make digestion sluggish. Stomach acid, hydrochloric acid (HCl) is more acidic than battery acid. So some have theorized that too much liquid dilutes HCl and interferes with digestion. But I’ve also heard this theory has never been validated, so both sides of the argument are presented. I like to look at folk medicine and taking intuitive cues from animals and nature. My dog always drinks a big bowl of water after she eats so I think she must be giving her body what it requires. I’ve practiced both low water or lots of water with meals, and haven’t noticed a huge difference either way. I think generally we’re so chronically dehydrated that water is good pretty much anytime.

It is not a condition, but a way of viewing digestion. Just day before yesterday I got this in an email about “Paloe Diet”:

5) Don’t DRINK with your meals. Fluids dilute your body’s own digestive juices and decreases their ability to break down your food. Drinking too much with meals may also effect insulin secretion and cause more fat storage. If you need…drink a few ounces of bone broth or hot water with lemon with your meal…otherwise try to avoid drinking during meals. Also try to avoid drinking 15 minutes before eating, during and 1–2 hours afterwards.

It may mean “drink a glass of water before you drink your meal” or “drink a glass of water in front of your meal”.

Saying “drink a glass of water before you eat” would be more precise and easier to understand.

Very interesting. But do you find they say “People who….should drink a glass of water before their meal” or are they addressing everyone?

The people I know who say, “don’t drink water before a meal,” or “don’t drink water during a meal,” tend to have a lot of old world thinking, and old wives tails in their heads.

For children I can see it, if the child seems to not be eating well, but that is very doubtful to me if we are talking about water. Children often get dehydrated easily, so denying a kid water if they are thirsty doesn’t sound like a great idea. Juice, milk, Koolaid, and soda, are a different story because of the sugar and calories. Then the child might actually fill up from calories.

Edit: for me personally, water I drink during, or just before a meal, help me. When I drink water not during a meal I just pee it right out 30 minutes later.

I think the nutritionists are addressing adults. It sounds like it’s to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight. But not everyone who is overweight is eating the same kinds of food.

I think it’s all a crock of shit. I drink water with my meals and there is no way I am going to curtail my healthy water consumption habits before, during or for hours after a meal. I think hydration is more important that maybe diluting your digestive juices quite frankly, other than maybe drinking a glass before a meal to eat less if someone is dieting.
The FACT is we and many animals need water to swallow and process their foods, including waterfowl that must consume water and tilt their heads back to effectively wash down their feed due to their long necks and being a horse person as well, horses simply will NOT eat if they are deprived of water.

They need the water to bulk up the hay and grasses to aide in passage through their intestines or the hay will become a solid mass in their intestines causing blockages and colic.
Several times here one of the horses has suddenly quit eating and we discover their automatic waterer has been accidentally turned off. Usually from one of them rubbing on the valve which we ended having to move higher up the walls in their stalls. haha
Don’t forget we are told to drink MORE water if we suffer from constipation.

Remember, don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you read, or something to that effect, don’t quote me. lol

I don’t believe water decreases absorption. Milk does, especially some specific minerals like iron, but water I don’t see how. Drinking with meals helps me not get constipated. Drinking water separately does nothing.

I’m going to google.

There is no mention of the size and capacity of the glass.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/digestion/faq-20058348

@JLeslie Yep, total crock of poo. haha

I drink water -before, during and after the meal…. :)

I like a glass of water with a meal and I drink because I feel thirsty. After a meal I sometimes drink tea.

If you’re taking fiber to curtail diarrhea, it’s best not to drink a bunch of water right before/with the fiber, since the point of the fiber is to absorb excess fluid in your stool. If you take water with it, it’ll just absorb that water and won’t do its job.

People who have had gastric bypass are also not really supposed to drink much fluids while eating, I think because fluids help you get more food down even if you’re feeling full, and the whole reason gastric bypass helps is that it makes you feel full sooner.

Those are the only examples I can think of.

Reflux. Eat, then drink the water.