Korean Dieting Trick [Culture]

Water. Does the body good.  We need it.  We drink lots of it.  But should we ever NOT? 

YES!

According to Koreans, anyways.  I was having dinner with my relatives the other day and found it odd that I was the only one at the table who asked for water to drink with my meal.  So of course, I politely offered to get some for everyone else, but they all declined.  

Hmmm...just not thirsty?

Actually, it's a habit!  A rule of thumb.  A dieting trick.  

No wonder Korean girls are so skinny...?

So we all know that good digestion leads to good everything else.  You'll lose weight, trim inches from your waist, etc.  That's why people take probiotics and fiber when dieting to improve digestion.  

Ever seen the Activia commercials? 

[Hahaha so funny, I love this one! Great ad!]

So what's water have to do with it?  When you diet, you're supposed to drink lots and lots of water right?  RIGHT!  Buuuut there's a specific time that you actually SHOULDN'T drink water!

During meals.

I know that sounds really bazaar because logic would tell you that you need the water to wash down your food.  HOWEVER, unless you're eating something like straight up biscuits or saltine crackers [and apparently even then] you're supposed to chew the food in your mouth until your saliva makes it watery enough to swallow without that sandpaper-y feeling as it goes down the chute.  

If you need the water, it means you are:

A)  not chewing enough

B)  stressed (apparently reduces saliva)

C)  in a hurry

D)  dehydrated (I'll get to this)

E)  all of the above

For E)  I know you're thinking, "well that's why you should drink more water during your meal, DUH!" but actually, it just means you should drink more water during the day around your meals.  

So here's the rule:  No water 30 min. before or 2 hours after your meal.

Why?  Because water interrupts the enzymes in your stomach that break down food and disrupts your digestive process.  So instead, you should eat with another form of liquid food, like a soup.

That's why most Korean meals come with a soup.  Look at Japanese meals also...most come with miso soup!   

Don't believe me?  

 Check my post about [ food delivery ]  

It's so important, they found a way to pack it EVEN for delivery!

And if you ever go to a Korean restaurant, they won't have regular American-sized cups.  They are always the size of a little teacup...think espresso sized.  And you have to get up to go and get water...rarely do you get a pitcher unless you're with a group of people.  I found this really uncomfortable at first, because during my meals used to be the ONLY time during the day I'd drink water, but after learning this, I'm going to try it out for a bit and report back on this topic in about a month.

Oh, and I found out my blood type today, so you can kind of expect that to be my next post's topic ;D ... coming soon!