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Comment by carbocation | Hacker News Reader

Water does not meaningfully Change the acidity of your gastric mucosal lining. Even antacids only do so temporarily.

Really? One of the things I read while checking into the salad timing was about Americans also drinking cool liquids before and during a meal, which was not really advisable for good digestion.

None of that stuff matters at all from a biological standpoint. From a psychological standpoint, it's helpful to get water in first (fills you up a bit, adds 0 calories). Same with a salad (fills you up a bit, adds few calories).

According to Google answers you're right:

Is it okay to drink water during meals? This is interesting as a lot of complementary practitioners recommend against drinking water with meals, believing it dilutes the stomach acid and, hence, interferes with proper digestion. Technically this is not true, Dr. B says, as the water probably doesn't significantly mix with digestive juices. So for the record it's only people who are having problems making enough stomach (hydrochloric) acid who need to worry about this.

I've been told that the 'cool' part is significant. In so far as temperature of your stomach is a factor for good digestion. I'm not sure to what degree that is true but gulping down an icy beverage can't help.

The cool part is not significant, as thermodynamics will ensure prompt temperature equilibration. Relative to an ice-cold jug of water, your body is a nearly infinite heat source.

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