How to drink water

Hi Jeremy!
This one's for you ...

It is generally accepted that drinking between one and two litres of water a day is health-bringing. How does one achieve that to best effect and without interfering with the work of the stomach?

It comes down to timing. You need to drink your water:

• on an empty stomach, which means at least three hours after the last meal, and
• at least 45 minutes before the next meal

If you drink earlier than three hours after you finished your last meal the water may be simply mixed in with everything else the stomach is mashing up. If you allow your water at least 45 minutes of empty stomach you can be pretty sure that nearly all of it will be fast-tracked into the small intestine. Sometimes half a litre can get from mouth to small intestine in as little as five minutes!

Let's say we want to drink a full two litres a day, and drink it in three intakes of 667 millilitres (two large 'builder's mugs' worth). Here is a feasible timetable ...

07.00               Get up
07.05               Drink 667 millilitres of water
07.10               Wash. Brush teeth
07.30 - 08.00   Prepare hearty breakfast
08.00 - 08.30   Eat hearty breakfast
       No mid-morning snack
12.10               Drink 667 millilitres of water
12.15 - 13.00   Prepare wholesome lunch
13.00 - 13.45   Eat wholesome lunch
      No mid-afternoon snack
17.25               Drink 667 millilitres of water
17.30 - 18.15   Prepare modest dinner
18.15 - 19.00   Eat modest dinner

No evening nibbles or drinks that might prolong the stomach's work.

Try to go to bed on an empty stomach, i.e. at least three hours after finishing your last food or drink.

Previously in Green Health Watch Magazine we have reported (e.g.):
The evidence in favour of drinking between three and eight 8oz glasses of water a day is convincing. Study findings reported by researchers at Drexel University College of Medicine to the 2003 Experimental Biology conference in San Diego (US) found that:

• drinking twelve 8oz glasses a day resulted in 10% higher blood plasma volumes (a measure of hydration) than when drinking eight 8oz glasses
• the students who drank eight to twelve glasses a day reported having more energy, more focus, and a greater sense of well-being than when they had been drinking only four glasses a day

• drinking four rather than eight 8oz glasses of water a day might result in mild dehydration:

• blood plasma volumes were 5% lower
• urine was more highly concentrated

In a ten-year study involving nearly 48,000 men, Michaud and colleagues(1) found that:

• the risk of developing bladder cancer decreased by 7% for every 240ml (approximately one 8oz cup) of fluid added. Benefits were seen from drinking six 8oz cups a day
• compared with those who had drunk an average two 8oz cups or less a day:

• drinking five or more  8oz cups of water (1,185ml or more) per day reduced men's risk of developing fatal coronary heart disease by 54%
• drinking three to four 8oz cups a day reduced women's risk of developing fatal coronary heart disease by 41%, sometimes more

The effect was limited to water. Drinking other fluids (coffee, tea, juices, soft drinks, etc.) appeared to increase the risk of fatal coronary heart disease.(2)
Drinking significant amounts of water also appeared to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. In some instances,(3,4) risk reduction was apparent from as little as five 8oz glasses of water a day (articles 12995 and 13096)

References

1. Michaud,DS et al. New England Journal of Medicine 1999;340:1390-97
2. Chan,J et al. American Journal of Epidemiology 2002;155: 827-33
3. Shannon,J et al. Cancer Epidemiological Biomarkers 1996 prev 5:495-502
4. Tang,R et al. International Journal of Cancer 1999;82:484-89