Research it if you like, but the facts above are as certain as the turning of the earth. 

You posted a link above with some "research" saying that drinking with meals is good for your health. It unequivocally is NOT good for WLSers who hope to lose weight and keep it off.

The choice is yours. I imagine you can find "research" to support anything. Heck, I know of one study that says chocolate cake makes you lose weight. But if you want to lose and keep it off, you won't drink during or after meals.

This is a question that so many bariatric programs answer differently! I have worked in three different clinics and have heard...you guessed it...three different recommendations!! For my patients I am fine with them drinking up until their first bite. Once the first bite has been taken, keep liquids out during the meal time and for 60 minutes afterward - 45 at the very minimum. The other answers are here are spot on! This guideline is to keep food in your stomach pouch longer and keep hunger at bay in between meals to keep away from snacking. Your portion sizes are often smaller too when you avoid fluids with the meal. If you feel like you are really dry or are going to choke, I would encourage you to evaluate the size of bites that you take. Many times (especially meat) dry or choking feelings are too large of bite****ting the top of the stomach pouch. Keep bites the size of a peanut and pause in between ;) And yes...the no fluids with meals or afterwards thing is just for post-ops!!! Non-surgery people are okay to drink with meals because of the pyloric sphincter. 

Sorry for the novel but thanks for letting me join in the conversation! 

Recently I have been experimenting with different drink mixes.  Crystal Light is so sweet/fake and has an aftertaste.  Today, I found this brand and I love it! It is much lighter tasting with no aftertaste.  Thought I would share! They also have lemonade which I bought but have not tried yet.

The evidence is clear, and the process is very well studied and understood. It really is one of the basic tenets of WLS. The number one thing those with significant regain have in common -- besides the fact they eat too many calories -- is drinking with meals.

The "full" feeling that anyone gets, WLS or not, comes about because our stomachs expand, triggering a nerve that sends a signal to our brain. All of that can take about 20 minutes, which is why no one, WLS or not, should eat too fast. We can be full before the signal arrives.

Drinking during eating washes the food out of our pouches, and can open the pyloric valve in sleevers. It takes about 30 minutes for our pouches or sleeves to empty on their own, so if you drink within 30 minutes of eating, the food washes through, the full feeling never gets sent, and we are hungry still. Which causes us to eat more, or at least cause cravings.

Liquid calories or slider foods pass right through our stomachs, so they fail to cause expansion, also leaving us hungry and craving more.

All of this is why dense protein produces greater satiety, leading us to eat less in the course of a day. Drinking would negate that advantage.

I was a sugar addict for years beginning when i was a kid. I learned i needed to fill up on vegetables

and use healthy sweeteners in my beverages that would help surpress my appetite.