Can someone please tell me how many minutes before eating do you have to stop drinking water and also explain to me why.

My doctor said that I can drink right up to the minute I start eating, but then quit because if you drink as you eat it helps push the food right through your band faster and you won't feel full as long. He told me to wait a while after eating to start drinking again also.

this is true. the main purpose of the band is to get and stay full faster so you wont overeat. so if the food if mixed with liquids, what the purpose?

mine said to stop drinking 30 minutes prior and start 30 minutes after

noosagirl...your best bet is to do what YOUR doctor says, because s/he is the one with the experience! :biggrin:

Mine says no liquids (not just water) 15 minutes before, during, and 15 minutes after eating. Why is exactly as the other posters have stated...liquid helps wash the food through your stoma and negates the effect of the band.

There is an additional reason to avoid drinking liquids after eating, so my doctor recommends waiting an hour before drinking. If you drink liquids right after you have eaten, the Fluid has nowhere to go as the stoma is blocked with food. You can stretch your pouch and cause band slippage by drinking after eating. The upper stomach contents can back up into your esophagus and cause damage.

The time before eating doesn't really matter. Warm liquids can relax the stoma and allow you to eat more, and cold liquids can constrict it so you can't eat enough, but generally speaking, liquids prior to eating don't make a big difference.

My doctor said drink right up to minute before eating but to wait 30 minutes after eating.

Does this mean that if i want to eat less, all i have to do is drink cold water before eating?

My doctor says no liquids 30 minutes before and one hour afterward.

I find it very interesting that so many doctors have such different advice. Not just on drinking before and after we eat. Other very different advice seems to be about the pre-op diet and also the diet after a fill. Doesn't the AMA or the lap band companies have rules that doctors should be following? Or does each doctor interpert the rules differently? Just an observation. Who knows what is right. I guess just follow your doctors advice.

Mine is the same as Cleo's Mom. Nothing 30 minutes prior or 60 after eating.

mine said 30 before and 30 after... but does that count during the post-op liquid phase? I feel like I'm sipping constantly, but switch between protein and water.....

Stopping early makes no sense to me. It's hard enough getting enough Water into you without some arbitrary rule for no reason.

Can someone who's doctor makes them do that please ask them why?

I've been bold stop 10 minutes before and start again 30 minutes after. The 10 minutes before is to allow it time to pass through the band and into the lower tummy. Once in there, it won't interfere with the food going into band. Waiting 30 minutes after is to allow food to pass through.