Do you need to pay attention to the time when drinking soup (do you need water to drink soup)

A girl asked me: I heard that drinking soup before meals is good for losing weight. Drink one hour before meals or half an hour before meals? Or do you want to drink it before dinner? Another woman asked, I heard that Korean health experts advocated the "health care method of separating rice from water", saying that you should not drink water or soup during meals and within two hours after meals, so that you can strengthen your spleen and stomach and keep fit, right? Another old friend asked me: I dare not drink water before exercise in the morning, for fear that the water in my stomach will crash and hinder exercise. But after fitness in summer, you will sweat a lot and your mouth will be particularly thirsty. I always drink some iced mineral water on my way back. Do you think this is the right time to drink water?

Do you need to pay attention to the time when eating soup?

After listening to these questions, I feel that the time for drinking water is quite complicated and even a little confusing. I haven't done any relevant human experiments, so I can only give a preliminary answer to the question of drinking time based on some research evidence and the possible influence of theoretical inference.

Let's talk about drinking water and losing weight first

Many people have heard the saying, "Eating soup before meals makes you slim and healthy". In fact, in 2000, I wrote a related article to the health consultant magazine, entitled "Drink soup before meals, the more you drink, the better you look". I wrote this popular science article because I saw a research paper that drinking soup before meals can reduce the food intake by about 15% without affecting the feeling of fullness. In other words, drink some soup in advance, so that your stomach will not be so hungry first, so that you will not be so anxious when eating, and the speed of eating will be slow. At the same time, because there is some water in the stomach first, dry food will absorb water and swell in the stomach, and the feeling of fullness will come earlier than eating dry food alone, so it is more difficult to eat. Later, this sentence was widely spread by Professor Hong Zhaoguang, a famous health education expert, and eventually became a household name.

Later, after reading other related studies, I realized that it is very important to grasp the time before drinking soup, water and drinks.

Studies have found that drinking water between meals, that is, drinking water one or two hours before meals, or even drinking sweet drinks with calories, can not reduce the amount of food eaten during meals. In other words, when you drink a lot of sugar water between meals, you can't let people eat less. In this way, the number of calories eaten during the day has increased, and of course it has reached the end of gaining weight. Then, drinking water and drinks while eating, or drinking soup and drinks while eating, can't make people eat less. Only one study found that drinking while eating can make people feel full when they stop eating, compared with not drinking soup.

If you want to reduce your dinner intake after drinking liquid, you need to drink water about 20 minutes before eating. At this time, drinking drinks or water will obviously reduce the food intake. Even drinking sugary drinks or soup containing starch will still consume less calories than not drinking liquid before meals. In other words, this soup before meals is good for weight control. The interval between pre-meal soup and dinner in western-style meals is usually shorter than 20 minutes, which may not necessarily limit appetite; The traditional after-dinner soup of China banquet can only be filled with salt and fat.

Researchers can't answer exactly why it works 20 minutes before meals, but it can't be too early or too late. It is speculated that the possible mechanism may be this: after drinking water, the liquid is emptied from the stomach quickly, about ten or twenty minutes. If the water is completely drained, the swollen state of the stomach disappears and the stomach returns to hunger, then the effect of suppressing appetite is limited. Therefore, if you eat before the water is completely drained, the food absorbs some of the water that has not been drained, which can keep the stomach in a certain state of expansion and may improve the feeling of fullness. However, if you eat while drinking water, the feeling of bloating is not transmitted to the appetite control center of the brain in time, and it cannot play a role in suppressing appetite.

Let's talk about whether it is suitable to drink water when eating.

If you eat very dry food, don't drink water before meals. You need to drink some water when eating to help moisten the food and help the secretion of digestive juice. However, if you drink water before meals, or the food contains a lot of water, such as porridge soup, or vegetables with high water content, such as wax gourd, radish and tomato, then not drinking water before meals will not hinder eating or digestion.

Many times, there is no absolute good or bad, and quantity is the key factor. For most healthy people, drinking a small glass of water or soup with meals will not "dilute gastric juice"; What may happen after drinking two bowls does not mean that it will happen after drinking half a bowl. But if you drink a few large glasses, I'm afraid it's another matter. It is obviously unwise to drink two bottles of sweet drinks before meals.

On the other hand, people who are in poor health can also drink less water during meals. First of all, some people are weak, have a bad appetite and eat little. Drinking plenty of water and soup while eating may hinder them from eating and is not conducive to weight gain. Secondly, some people with muscle weakness, indigestion, gastroptosis and insufficient gastric motility are worried that drinking a lot of soup will make their stomachs overweight, so it is better to drink a glass of water or a small bowl of soup before meals, and then concentrate on eating until their stomachs are half empty, that is, drink water about two hours after meals. Drinking water won't crush your stomach at this time. In the third case, gastric juice secretion is seriously insufficient. Drinking a lot of soup and eating a lot of fruits such as watermelon during meals may dilute gastric juice and affect digestion. In addition, these people should be reminded to chew solid food and swallow it before drinking soup, so as not to hinder the serious chewing of food; If the food is not chewed well, you can gulp down the soup, which may really affect digestion.

I estimate that the idea of "separation of rice and water" by Korean health experts is probably aimed at these weak people with loss of appetite and indigestion. If I have strong physical strength and good gastrointestinal function, I don't have to care too much about eating and drinking a glass of water.

Of course, even strong people do not advocate drinking sweet drinks and greasy soup with meals. In order to avoid getting fat, in order to avoid taking a lot of salt and fat from salty soup, it is best to drink white water, light tea and less salty oil soup.

Finally, talk about drinking water before and after exercise.

For dry northern areas, it is best to drink a glass of water before exercise in the morning to replenish the water lost at night, moisturize the digestive tract mucosa, and avoid excessive blood concentration caused by exercise and sweating. People with unstable blood sugar control can drink a small bowl of gruel to avoid the danger of hypoglycemia during exercise. Drinking a glass of water or a small bowl of porridge soup will not make your stomach heavy, nor will it hinder your exercise.

If you sweat a lot after exercise, of course, you need to replenish water in time, but at this time, you should replenish water several times, take two drinks, stop and drink two or three more to avoid rapid changes in blood osmotic pressure. There are many cases in which people are sent to hospital for emergency treatment because of a lot of exercise, sweating and drinking water, which leads to a temporary imbalance between body fluids and electrolytes, and even brain edema. It should also be noted that it is not advisable to drink ice water and drinks after exercise and fever. If you don't like warm water, normal temperature water will do, to avoid sudden contraction of blood vessels, which is not conducive to sweating and heat dissipation, and even gastrointestinal cramps and discomfort caused by cold stimulation.

To put it bluntly, when it comes to drinking water, it is important to replenish water. The basic principle is to drink if you want, not to be thirsty. However, if the gastrointestinal tract is fragile, it is always wise to drink a small amount many times. If you sweat a lot during exercise, you should pay attention to hydrating in time and drink slowly. If you drink at the wrong time and in the wrong way, it may bring a little trouble. When is the best time to drink? In fact, the most authoritative thing is your own body-if the effect is good after changing the drinking method, I will definitely tell you.