question about not drinking for 30 minutes before meal?

poet_kelly
on 9/30/11 9:52 am - OH

I got a question. I know some docs say not to drink for 30 minutes before meals, but I (and many others I know) drink right up until we start to eat, or almost until we start to eat. There seems to be no reason not to. The liquid doesn't stay in the pouch more than a couple minutes.

But tonight someone told me they were told by their doctor that the reason not to drink for 30 minutes before you eat is to avoid washing the stomach acid out of the pouch. Since we have so little stomach acid anyway, we need to avoid washing any out so we can digest our food better.

Has anyone else heard this? Does anyone know if drinking does wash stomach acid out of the pouch? On one hand it seems like it could, but on the other hand, doesn't our stomach just produce more, especially while we eat?

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

Liz J.
on 9/30/11 10:00 am - Woonsocket, RI

RNY on 12/16/11

I thought the enzymes in our saliva is what broke our food down after RNY.

missjann
on 9/30/11 10:04 am

RNY on 12/21/10

I've heard some goofy reasons for not drinking before eating, but I haven't yet heard that. I'm not buying it without some hard research. Stomach acids are produced constantly during eating, albeit in short supply in the pouch, but I'm not buying that the stomach is a storage vessel and that the acids get washed out. If they're liquid, what keeps them in there...even in small amounts? Just saying...........

Jan

poet_kelly
on 9/30/11 10:10 am - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

That's a good point.

I'm all for research, but how would you even research this? Is there some way to test the amount of stomach acid, then take a drink, then test it again and see if it got washed away? But then you'd have to eat something and test again to see if eating cause the stomach to produce as much acid as was there berfore you took a drink, anyway. Sounds difficult to me!

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

missjann
on 9/30/11 10:18 am

RNY on 12/21/10

Agree. I think this is one I'll take with a hefty dose of skepticism.

Jan

cajungirl
on 9/30/11 12:17 pm

RNY on 02/21/05

I've never heard this either. What I was instructed to so early out of surgery was to not drink 30 minutes before because water filled me up and my intake was so little. Still to this day drinking a lot before a meal limits my intake. My surgeon tells all new post-ops to wait until they can eat a reasonable amount to wait 30 minites.

Does drinking not make you full?

Proximal RNY Lap - 02/21/05

9 years committed ~ 100% EWL and Maintaining

www.dazzlinglashesandbeyond.com

poet_kelly
on 9/30/11 12:23 pm - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

Depends on what I drink, I guess. Water, iced tea, hot tea, something like that, not really. Soy milk, or a protein shake, yeah, for a while. Depends on the protein shake but I can make one that keeps me full a good while.

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

rocky513
on 9/30/11 12:35 pm - WI

I had RNY surgery as a cure for my acid reflux disease. The doctor told me that stomach acid was primarily produced in the lower half of the stomach. By creating a small pouch and dividing the stomach in two, it makes it nearly impossible for acid to get into the esophegus.There may be a few cells that produce acid left in the pouch, but not enough to really digest food or cause acid reflux. The lower stomach still produces acid...but that acid is released into our small intestines where it aids in the digestive process. So... I'm not buying this argument at all. I think the doctors recommend not drinking for 30 minutes prior to eating just to make sure there is no liquid left to "delute" the food we put in our pouch. The more "solid" the food...the longer we feel satisfied.

HW 270 SW 236 GW 160 CW 145 (15 pounds below goal!)

VBG Aug. 7, 1986, Revised to RNY Nov. 18, 2010

poet_kelly
on 9/30/11 12:45 pm - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

But does liquid remain in our pouch for 30 minutes? Especially if I am taking normal-sized drinks, wouldn't the liquid be gone from my pouch in much less than 30 minutes?

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

PTM
on 9/30/11 2:52 pm

RNY on 02/07/11

My surgeon's practice told me that the reason for not drinking close to eating was because you might feel full and not eat as much as you should, thereby not getting enough nutrients. Frankly, I haven't had that problem! I don't time how long before a meal I drink, and I have had liquids right up to eating.

Margaret HW: 342 SW: 320 CW: 228 GW: 175

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question about not drinking for 30 minutes before meal?

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question about not drinking for 30 minutes before meal?