Does drinking water while eating definitely affect digestion?
Drinking an appropriate amount of water while eating does not have a significant impact on the digestion and absorption of food, nor is it particularly harmful to your health. From a normal physiological digestive function perspective, when we start to smell food, our mouths begin to secrete saliva. This is the common phenomenon of "watering at the mouth" when tempted by food. The saliva secreted in the mouth not only aids in digestion but also lubricates food to make swallowing easier. Furthermore, chewing food stimulates more saliva secretion, so chewing slowly is more beneficial for food digestion and swallowing.
However, situations often arise where food is too dry and there is insufficient saliva secretion, especially for individuals with oral or throat diseases, or the elderly and children. In such cases, solid food can be difficult to swallow, and drinking a moderate amount of water to help it go down is perfectly fine. This is also one of the reasons why the elderly often prefer congee over rice.
Under the stimulation of food, the stomach and intestines begin to secrete digestive juices to prepare for food digestion. The digestive function in the mouth is relatively minor; the main digestion of food occurs in the gastrointestinal tract. The common belief that drinking water during meals is detrimental to the body is mainly based on the idea that it dilutes digestive juices, thereby reducing the rate of food digestion and absorption. Drinking water may reduce the concentration of saliva and dilute some gastric juice, but its effect on intestinal digestive juices is minimal. Unless you drink a large amount of water, the negative impact on food digestion is small, so there is no need for excessive concern.