Does Drinking Soda After Meal Help in Digestion
In the world diet and digestion, most of the people are often suffer from the problem of food digestion. There are many factors that can contribute to the problem. To solve it and get quick relief, many are found to indulge in different notions and one of such notion is the idea of consuming soda water drinks after a meal to aid in digestion, But this notion is often marked with question of its actual effectiveness in digestive process. Lets delve into the debate and discover the truth behind the notion- does drinking soda after meal help in digestion.
Myths: how does drinking soda after meal help in digestion
Many people in our country tend to drink soda water during or after meals. Many people think that drinking commercial soft drinks or soda water during or after lunch or dinner will improve digestion, prevent gas problems, etc. Here, especially the problem of gas needs to be mentioned first. Because after drinking soda water or soft drinks, we get goosebumps. It seems that the pressure in the stomach is reduced a lot. As a result, it seems that the gas in the stomach has decreased. In fact, the first reason behind belching is that some air enters our esophagus when we drink something liquid.
Secondly, any carbonated drink or soda water contains high pressure carbon dioxide. As a result, after drinking soft drinks, the gas comes out with the air from the bubbles of carbon dioxide, just like the washed air comes out through the esophagus. As a result, we feel that gas is released from the stomach.
Understanding Digestion:
Before talking about the effects of soda water or carbonated drinks on our digestive system, we must first discuss and understand the process of our digestive system.
Inside the mouth, there are tongue, teeth and salivary gland which help directly or indirectly in our digestion process. At first, teeth smash the foods into small pieces. These small pieces of foods are moistened with salvia and thus help us to swallow foods and move them down to stomach.
The process of transforming foods into simple and liquid form so that they are easily absorbed by the cells of the body is called digestion.
When the food first goes to stomach they are mixed with digestive enzymes from pancreas and bile from liver. This is how the food is squeezed to become tiny particles from where the nutrients are absorbed with villi to pass the nutrients into bloodstream.
After the essential nutrients have been absorbed, then the waste parts of the food are moved into large intestine and move out as bowl from our body.
Does Drinking Soda After Meal Really Help in Digestion:
Soda or Soft drinks of any kind do not help digestion at all. Rather, it hinders the digestion process even a little.
At first, whenever we eat any food, various enzymes from various salivary glands in the mouth mix with the food during chewing. Enzymes from stomach help in digestion of food. As a result, if you drink soda water after eating food, the enzymes will not be able to mix with the food properly. As a result, drinking soda after meal does not help significantly on our digestive system. On the other hand, it may have reversed the digestive system if taken in large amounts.
Additionally, many soda waters are high in sugar content which can further disrupt the digestive system because high sugar intake can lead to increased production of stomach acid.
It is recommended to intake warm water or herbal teas as better choices for aiding digestion after heavy meal.
Does Drinking Soda Water After Meal Removes Acidity:
Many people say that we have acid problem. So we drink soft drinks or soda water. But the real thing is that our stomach secretes hydrochloric acid. This acid helps break down food into small particles. Therefore, acid is very necessary for food digestion.
Most of the soda water or coke are carbonated drinks which contain carbon-di-oxide, sodium-bi-carbonate and little caffeine and sugar. Some flavor is also added to it. When a person feels gas or acidity, then PH level increases in stomach. The chemical compounds found in the coke can provide little bit of comfort in acidity. But we should keep in mind that this is temporary solution.
Therefore, if a person thinks that he will solve the acid level in stomach by taking or drinking coke too often or in large amount, then he is mistaken. If the normal level of acid in the stomach decreases, it can cause digestive problems.
Also, drinking soda liquids shortly after eating can dilute stomach acid. In that case, the body has to produce more acid, which slows down the digestion process. And most importantly, carbonated drinks are an acidic drink. Because carbon dioxide and water mix to form carbonic acid. Therefore acid cannot be reduced by drinking acid. Instead, if you drink carbonated drinks, the kidneys have to work harder to remove carbonic acid from the body.
How Does Beverage After Meal Help in Digestion:
Let’s talk about drinking other beverages after meals. Many people drink red tea, green tea, coffee etc. after food. It is important to remember that drinking coffee or tea within a few minutes of a meal does not help the digestion process but can hinder it.
Other Harms From Soft Drinks:
Soft drinks contain a lot of sugar. As a result, if you drink this type of drink, more calories enter the body. This can lead to weight gain. Moreover, dental and bone health can be damaged from such drinks.
What we should do for digestive health:
Take Herbal Tea After an Hour:
Tea, coffee, soft drinks should not be taken within an hour of taking food. Green tea or red tea can be drunk one hour after taking food. This type of tea improves our metabolism. As a result, positive changes are seen in the body. Rather, coffee does not help our metabolism in that way. On the other hand, drinking too much coffee causes insomnia.
Hydrate with Small Amount of Water:
You can drink small amount of water during meal or after taking food. It can maintain proper hydration and facilitate the movement of foods through the digestive tract. You ca take sparkling water without added sugars or artificial sweeteners.
Practice Mindful Eating:
Practice mindful eating by chewing food slowly and thoroughly so that the enzymes in salvia can properly mix with foods and aid in digestion. Avoid distractions such as screens or multitasking during meals to focus on the act of eating and promote better digestion.
Final Thought:
You need to educate yourself to know that soda water or coke is unlikely to help in digestion, rather it worsens the digestive process. We may feel sudden comfort but the fact is soda water actually damage the digestive system. Instead of focusing on drinking soda after meal for digestion, you need to focus on digestion friendly foods and beverages. So lets on focus on the myth of drinking soda after meal for digestion, but focus on mindful eating and small amount of water during meal. These are some ideal choices that can support digestive process and overall well-being.
