Emptying of the stomach versus drinking fluids

[Dutchie]

I am not a rule breaker by nature, but I like to know the reasoning behind things.
I was wondering about this 30 minute rule.

When I drink water, which is very runny, it will pass the sleeve very quickly.
Thicker fluids (shakes, soups) will take a longer time.
Throughout the day I drink fluids with the consistency of water, which will not sit in my stomach for more than a couple of minutes.
I have heard of surgeons that have a 5 minute rule, which makes sense to me.

But afterwards is what I don't get.
it is said, that the 30 minutes waiting, has to do with the flushing of foods out of the stomach into the intestins.
In the first place, we still have a pylorus, so nothing actually will "flush" in my opinion, and secondly, it takes hours for the stomach to actually empty itself.

50% of stomach contents emptied- 2.5 to 3 hours
Total emptying of the stomach- 4 to 5 hours
50% emptying of the small intestine- 2.5 to 3 hours
Transit through the colon 30 to 40 hours

Source: http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks...s/transit.html

I still do not drink with my meals, although occasionally, I would like to, especially when eating out.
I know, of course, that I will eat less, because I have fluids in my stomach, so there is less room for food, but sometimes that does not have to be a bad thing.
I do not drink after my meal, as long as I still feel full, which may vary from 30 minutes up to 1 hour, depending of the type of food I've been eating.

I am not suggesting someone should break the rule, but I just wonder, why this ís the rule.
It doesn't seem to be very logical.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

[Christie13]

I sometimes drink when I eat. I try to just have some water at the beginning when we first sit down and then stop and try not to until after I have eaten and waited the 30 mins. I do know if I eat and drink together I do get full faster. It has not hurt me as far as I can tell. I still try to follow the rule but I have done it on occasion with no apparent bad juju.

[Stacey03]

I don't follow this rule Dutchie! I'm probably a bad person! But I don't think I really drink much with meals anyway, maybe a sip or 2... and I don't always wait 30 mins. Yeah, I'm probably a bad person :-)

[sraebaer]

My nutritionist said our stomach is like a funnel. Put food in there and it will stay and keep you full. Add a glass of water and you will wash that food through the funnel and you will be hungry much sooner. Makes sense to me.

At home I never drink with meals or about a half hour after. Eating out I don't exactly follow the rules, as I'll often have a glass of wine with my meal!

I only eat fast food on road trips, and it's always funny ordering. I'll order something small and they will ask what I want to drink. "Nothing". Would you like a cup for water? "No" Then I get an odd look.

[Gvn71]

My Dr. explained it to me that if you drink right before you will not be able to eat as much necessary nutrient dense food, and that if you drink right after, you risk flushing your nutrients down before your (small) stomach has an opportunity to break them down for proper digestion and nutrient absorption.

No idea if he is correct in this description, but I try to stick to the 30 minute rule as much as possible. It also helps me with my need to curb eating snacks. I drink a bottle of water and then I have to wait 30 minutes until I can eat...... Usually the desire to snack / nibble passes by that point and I don't do it!

[DHB]

I'm glad you asked because my experience is that if I eat and then drink too soon after I feel like it "backs up". So it feels like the food is taking all the space and the liquid can't go down, which seems to be opposite of the idea that we would flush the food down and out. For me, it's slightly uncomfortable and sometimes I even have a bit of a gurgle.

[AnnieG]

My nutritionist said our stomach is like a funnel. Put food in there and it will stay and keep you full. Add a glass of water and you will wash that food through the funnel and you will be hungry much sooner. Makes sense to me.

At home I never drink with meals or about a half hour after. Eating out I don't exactly follow the rules, as I'll often have a glass of wine with my meal!

I only eat fast food on road trips, and it's always funny ordering. I'll order something small and they will ask what I want to drink. "Nothing". Would you like a cup for water? "No" Then I get an odd look.

When I ask for a plain hamburger (or chicken breast) with NO bread, they ask at least twice, and I finally say "I would like a naked sandwich". Then they get it.

I also observe the 30 minutes -- if I drink with food, I have a much higher chance of having "froth" or full blown "spew". Very touchy stomach. If we go out to a happy hour (in our case "early bird" special) and our companions are going to have several glasses of wine or beer, I order a glass of wine and drink about 1/2 of it since it takes about 30 minute to get whatever food I've ordered.

Everyone finds there own way, but compliance with medical advice has served me well so far in life!

[Dutchie]

Thank you all for your input, it is very much appreciated!
It still doesn't make much sense to me.

The pylorus is a circulair muscle, which completely closes the stomach.
When there is food in the stomach, it opens from time to time, to let a little bit of pre-digested food through.
When we drink fluids with our meal, there will be less room in our stomach for the food, that makes sense.
But I still don't think, that there will be much "flushing", because the pylorus is closed, it is not an open canal.
It's a muscle that relaxes from time to time, to let food pass.

Like I said, I do follow the rule about not drinking with meals up to 30 (or more) minutes after.
But it's still not clear to me why that rule is there.
I'm just wondering if this is a rule from the ancient GBP times, when the sleeve wasn't invented yet?
Because with the bypass it totally makes sense.