I know your not supposed to but I find no difference when I have water with my meals. I still fill satisfied for 4 hours. Is it because its bad for the band or stretches the stoma?

Drinking fluids with each bite can wash the food through the band without stimulating the vagus nerve. That's the theory. My doctor prefers his patients to adhere from drinking and eating but said he knows of some that are able to drink, eat and still lose or maintain their weight. So, he's flexible. He said, as long as I'm losing and I'm feeling satisfied for 4 hours, do whatever I want. tmf

It washes the food through the stoma, turning most everything into a slider food

I have always had something to drink with my meals. It was taboo, but now the powers that be are changing there minds on this issue. hugs

For me, it will overfill my pouch causing everything to immediately come back up, or create a lot of pain as if the pouch was stretching....which it probably is.....it happens to me every time.

Think of a funnel....where the narrow passage is the band....food accumulates in the upper portion of the funnel and passes through the narrow section slowly...depending on how much restriction you have...adding Water to whats already there overfills the funnel quickly ...what happens when you add too much to a funnel too fast? It overflows....

BTW, this is a technique used by many when they get stuck...introduce some water..slow sips...and it will come back up bringing the food with it having no where else to go....

I can see for those who do not have much restriction the water washing down the food...and they can get away with it without noticing or feeling anything....

But for me, being in the Green Zone...I do not dare drink while eating...from experience I know this is a big mistake without causing adverse effects...I do not want a dilated pouch,and pain, nor do I want it all to come up.....I have learned the hard way, as so many other things living with the band...

like the others have said and my dr told me again last week (when i go to the dr, i write down things i read on here and ask him) and he said like TMF said, the water just pushes it on through to make room for more.....best to listen to the dr as they advise us what works best for the band and to have good results..each to their own i guess..i agree with B52, learn your band

I hate this rule and struggle with this rule. I've lost about 10 pounds for the past 2 out of three months and I drink when I eat if I'm super thirsty or my food is spicy. Last month didn't lose so well but I maintained my weight and went on vacation for two weeks. Best advice I can give is try to stay away from drinking with meals but if you must only take a sip or two :/

I can do tiny sips, if needed, but as B-52 said, anything else will cause me to have a problem. It has been known to cause me to have pb problem. I try to stay with the no drinking rule!