The No Eating and Drinking Together Rule

Should You Eat & Drink At The Same Time?

Hey Babe. Have you been told by your surgical team that you shouldn’t eat and drink at the same time? Some people call it the 30-minute rule. As bariatric patients we are supposed to avoid eating and drinking at the same time. Typically, most WLS centers will tell you to wait 30 minutes after eating before sipping your fluids.

But have you ever been told WHY we need to do this? 

I believe that knowledge is power, and I don’t think we can choose to make empowered and great choices for ourselves on this journey if we aren’t given full transparency and education on the reasons WHY we should be sticking to the bariatric habits. 

The whole purpose of our surgery is to have a tool that limits our portion sizes. Long term on this journey, you want to make sure you are using your tool appropriately and maximizing your restriction. 

At the beginning of this journey, it’s likely that eating and drinking together can cause pain or even make you throw up, so obviously, that’s not something we want. In the early days post-op, you don’t want to eat and drink together because it can cause pain and make you sick. 

But what about later? What if it doesn’t physically bother you? Does that mean it’s okay to eat and drink together later on? Simply put, no.

Just because you CAN be eating and drinking together doesn’t mean you should.

And here’s why. When we eat, we want that food to sit in our pouch and keep us as full as possible for as long as possible (this is what I mean when I say we want it to maximize restriction). In a nutshell, we want to be using our tool appropriately. 

Well, if you drink directly after eating or while eating, that food is going to be pushed through your pouch much quicker than it normally would. If the food is pushed through quicker, you then will have more room to eat more! 

Picture a funnel. Imagine you have yogurt in that funnel. It’s likely that it will take a very long time for that yogurt to drip through the funnel. However, if you pour water in there too, it’s going to force the yogurt through much quicker, and then, the funnel will be empty. 

This is EXACTLY the same thing that happens when you eat and drink together.

You will push that food through more quickly, and then, be able to eat more. It’s essentially a bariatric loophole that will allow you to eat more.

I’m not real big on rules, and I think it’s important that we make the decisions that are best suited for us on an individual level on this journey. HOWEVER, I will say, if there is one major bariatric rule you follow long term, I encourage it to be this one! 

Eating and drinking together is one of the number one habits I see creep back in with my clients who struggle with regain. 

So if you are reading this and you are thinking “oh no! I haven’t been spacing out my eating and drinking!” I don’t want you to panic! Instead, I want you to focus on going back to that habit. 

And if you do still choose to eat and drink together, well, I suppose I can’t stop you! The choice is ultimately yours. But at least now you know the reason why you shouldn’t eat and drink together. 

Knowledge is power.