Abstract
Understanding how mealtime hydration impacts on digestion is crucial for optimizing nutritional strategies. Water, the elixir of life, plays a multifaceted role in human health. Beyond serving as a solvent and transport medium, its influence on digestion and gastric emptying remains elusive.
While traditional practices cautioned against concurrent beverage and food consumption, new questions arise: do specific water intake timings and temperatures hold merit? Despite the wealth of research conducted thus far, clarity on this subject continues to evade us. Notably, some studies revealed that meals’ temperature and composition impact gastric emptying, highlighting the interplay among temperature, texture, and digestion. However, when caloric content and total volume are matched, gastric emptying times may be similar regardless of compositional differences or initial state.
Key insights are summarized, highlighting research gaps and avenues for future investigations on optimal hydration at mealtimes, considering temperature nuances. This review serves as a springboard for further research, guiding nutritionists and other health professionals in devising optimal strategies for their patients' gastric health.