Is it possible to exercise after eating? Proper nutrition. How long after eating can you exercise without harm to health? How long after eating can you


To lose weight and get a beautiful body without excess fat, many people are ready to spend hours playing sports: running on the track, jumping rope, going to fitness and shaping, doing strength exercises in the gym.

Of course, such physical activity, as a rule, allows you to achieve desired result, but often cause irreparable harm to the body. That is why it is so important not only to know the technique of performing certain exercises, but also to adhere to a certain diet. It is important to understand when to exercise: before or after a meal, and when eating what kind of food, it is better to abstain from sports for an hour or two.

Pre-workout nutrition: to eat or not to eat?

The main mistake of many people who play sports is that they are convinced that training on an empty stomach brings more benefits to the body and promotes rapid weight loss. In fact, according to experienced instructors and nutritionists, even the lightest and simplest exercise should not occur before meals. Even if an athlete starts training at 6 am, he needs breakfast.

Why can't you train on an empty stomach? The fact is that any physical activity requires a lot of strength and energy, leading to overexertion and decreased endurance. Therefore, hunger before training often causes fainting, dizziness and injury.

The other extreme is overeating. Heavy and fatty foods can aggravate stress on the body, provoke premature fatigue and lethargy, and cause feeling unwell, bloating, nausea and vomiting. Therefore, eating before you start exercising is not only possible, but also necessary, however, the diet must be correct and balanced.

Mode Basics

When and how much? What kind of food should an athlete's menu have more of? We will formulate the answer below.

The question of how long after eating you can exercise depends directly on your menu and portion size.

If you like to eat well 3 times a day, then you can start training only 2-3 hours after eating. This time will be enough for the body to absorb even heavy and high-calorie foods. If you are a supporter of fractional meals (you take food more than 3 times a day in small portions), then you can perform physical exercises within an hour after breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack.

However this rule is not universal, since the time of day at which you prefer to study matters. So, if you train in the morning, then you can have breakfast and start exercising 40 minutes later. Scientists have proven that at the beginning of the day, the performance of our body is extremely high, so food in the stomach is digested much faster (though only if the diet consists of plant-based and well-digestible foods). When there is not enough time for breakfast, a glass of fruit drink, compote or tea half an hour before class can be an excellent alternative. If your workout takes place in the afternoon, then you should not start physical exercises earlier than 1.5-2 hours after eating.

Also, nutrition before exercise depends on the type, duration and intensity of physical exercise, individual characteristics each person. A 70kg runner who logs miles every day cannot eat the same as a young woman who goes to the gym several times a week to lose weight, or a bodybuilder who weighs more than 100kg.

How much to eat before training to lose weight?

The basic law of nutrition for healthy weight loss is very simple: you need to consume fewer calories than the body uses during physical activity, but their number must be sufficient for normal functioning and proper operation all systems.

If the body does not receive required quantity calories, you won't be able to lose weight. In this case, the metabolism will simply slow down, and your diligent running, swimming or aerobics can be considered pointless.

So that physical exercise brings the body maximum benefit, helped you lose weight and did not affect your overall well-being, you need to know not only when and how much to eat before exercise, but also what the sports menu might look like.

For intense training (fitness, aerobics, shaping), the main goal of which is weight loss, the body needs carbohydrates. They will support normal level blood sugar. Of course, we are not talking about high carbohydrates. glycemic index(buns, cakes, sweets). They significantly increase the amount of sugar in the blood, nothing more. The body needs substances with an average glycemic index that are well absorbed and allow the body to maintain glucose at the required level. The source of such healthy carbohydrates can be:

  • fruits (apple, pear, persimmon, peach);
  • berries (strawberries, currants, raspberries);
  • nuts (almonds, cashews, pistachios);
  • vegetables (pumpkin, beets);
  • cereals (brown rice, corn, wheat);
  • smoothie.

Before training, the body also needs proteins. They will save you from tissue damage, become a source of nutrition for working muscles and significantly increase the effectiveness of your training in the long term. Consume proteins in large quantities before physical exercise allowed only to athletes who are ready to engage in an intensive program, athletes and people who want to build muscle.

But it’s better to avoid fats altogether before sports. They are difficult for the body to process and, in combination with exercise, can put too much stress on the body. gastrointestinal tract. In addition, you should not exercise after eating fatty foods, because they can cause colic, belching and nausea.

Post-workout nutrition

You shouldn’t believe those who say that after training you can’t eat for 3-4 hours, they say that physical activity will lose all meaning. After strenuous exercise, an exhausted body simply needs food. You can and should have a snack half an hour after finishing the exercises, when the so-called “post-workout” window opens.

Everything you eat during this period will be used by the body to restore muscles, and not a single calorie, not a single particle of food will become part of fat deposits. Practice also proves the following.

When a person is actively involved in sports and abstains from eating for 2 hours after training, the result is minimal.

Nutritionists advise focusing on carbohydrate foods after training. However, they categorically do not recommend using:

  • fats, which slow down the process of carbohydrates entering the blood;
  • coffee, cocoa and chocolate products are rich in caffeine, which affects insulin production and slows down the flow of glycogen into the muscles and liver.

As you can see, nutrition is important for weight loss and training. A properly selected and well-balanced menu will provide positive influence on the body's endurance, will allow you to quickly restore energy reserves, effectively burn fat and lose weight without feeling tired and exhausted. The main thing is to follow your diet and listen to your body. Then training will become safe for your health and will bring you the desired result.

Have you often felt like you wanted to wash down your lunch with a glass of water, or take a couple of sips while eating? I think that such situations have happened to you, and more than once. But many people question Is it possible to drink during and after meals?, makes you very much doubt and worry about this. Lately There are so many “Internet experts” and specialists in healthy lifestyle and nutrition that sometimes it becomes scary for people who believe everyone and everything that is written and said on the Internet. And one of the most popular and relevant topics is water after meals. Some say that drink water after eating It is categorically prohibited within 2 hours (and an hour before meals), others claim that drink after eating you can already drink it after 60 minutes, and still others claim that you can drink water always, everywhere and under any circumstances. Who to believe? Who is really right? And today I decided to dispel several myths about water. After reading this article, you will no longer have any questions about is it possible to drink immediately after eating Or is it better to wait a couple of hours? And also find out whether water harms digestion if you eat and drink at the same time? The answers to all these and other questions that interest you are below, so I suggest you get started.

Water and the digestion process

And to begin with, I would like to dispel the most important myth that drinking a cup of water during or immediately after a meal supposedly dilutes the gastrointestinal juice, and because of this, it is disrupted natural process digestion. IT IS NOT TRUE!

The composition of the gastrointestinal juice, which is secreted in response to food taken by a person, includes hydrochloric acid. Concentration of hydrochloric acid large enough to play a major role in the digestion of food in the stomach, and drinking one cup of water during or after a meal does not play a big role in reducing the concentration of the acid itself. It is stupid and ridiculous to think that water can somehow interfere with the digestion process. This is exactly what this study proves, which was conducted to identify how drinking water on an empty stomach and during meals affects the pH environment of the stomach. And according to the results of the study, it turns out that NO.

And it's all about the special structure of the stomach.

Stomach structure

When people claim that drink water after eating harmful, this suggests that they do not have sufficient knowledge about human physiology. Of course, it's not fatal, and you can live with it (after all, it's okay not to know something), but studying today's topic involves digging a little deeper to get to the truth.

Without going into details of human anatomy, let’s briefly consider what sections our stomach consists of:

- upper (proximal) section of the stomach - its main function is to store food that enters it;

- lower (distal) section of the stomach - is responsible for mixing and processing food (Fig. 1).


Rice. 1 Sections of the stomach

When food enters the stomach, it is initially placed in layers in the upper section, and then gradually moves to lower section.

When water enters the stomach, it DOES NOT RETAIN in proximal part, but immediately enters the distal one, thereby it does not mix in any way with food, which is still in the upper section stomach. Until the time the food reaches the lower section, the water will have left it long ago.

 For reference

Numerous studies examining the speed of fluid movement through the digestive system say that up to 300 ml of water leaves the stomach within 5-15 minutes.

Another interesting fact about the structure of the stomach, which proves that water does not interfere with the digestion process and does not in any way dilute the gastrointestinal juice.

The whole stomach and small intestine permeated with small “pockets” where water can be stored if necessary. Depending on the volume of liquid taken, these “pockets” can hold up to 150 ml of water, and along the stomach itself there is a wall with folds, through which the drunk water enters the lower part of the stomach (Fig. 2). That is, it turns out that water drunk immediately after a meal or during does not wash away food in a rapid stream and does not come into close contact with gastrointestinal juice , as many people think. It flows along the outer wall of the stomach (along the longitudinal folds), enters immediately into the distal part of the stomach, and then into the duodenum. If the water was drunk on an empty stomach, then it reaches the distal part in 2 minutes.


Rice. 2 The process of moving water in the stomach

So to everyone who was afraid drink water after eating, as well as to everyone who restrained their desire take a sip of water while eating, I advise you no longer wait until 2 hours have passed to quench your thirst. You can drink water both during and after meals! BUT important condition at the same time: you need to chew your food well, otherwise the food bolus will not be able to form normally, which will cause fermentation and rotting in your intestines.

But, just as every rule has its exceptions, the situation with water has its limitations. Below we will look at them in more detail.

1. Water temperature

When we answer a question in the affirmative, can I drink after eating, then we mean water at a temperature close to body temperature (32-38 degrees Celsius). It is water of this temperature that does not affect the presence of food in the stomach and leaves it in a timely manner (within a maximum of 30 minutes). If you decide to drink too much food cold water, then the time it spends in the stomach is reduced by 3-4 times, as this increases gastric motility. That is, instead of staying in the stomach for 3-5 hours, food leaves it after 20-30 minutes (Institute of Experimental Medicine of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, Leningrad). This accelerated process of gastric emptying is not associated with accelerated process digestion, simply low intragastric temperature causes the underdigested food bolus to move faster through the gastrointestinal tract, actually causing DIGESTION DISORDERS. Firstly, the feeling of hunger comes much faster than it should, and secondly, incompletely digested food that has entered the intestines begins to rot and decompose there, causing bloating, gas formation, but the worst thing can cause intoxication of the body. Perhaps this fact became the main factor in people’s fear drink during and after meals.

But if you like to drink hot drinks during meals (tea, coffee), then the exact opposite process is observed - there is an OUTFLOW of blood from the stomach, which leads to a slowdown in digestion. In both the first and second cases, digestion is disrupted, which leads to such negative consequences, such as: constipation or, conversely, diarrhea, increased or decreased stomach acidity, and in the case of hot drinks, this can also lead to cancer of the esophagus or stomach.

Based on this, remember the first rule:

WATER TEMPERATURE SHOULD BE NOT BELOW 30°C!

2. Other liquid

I know that many people like to wash down their food not just with water, but with some sweet drink: compote, juice, sweet tea or coffee, or carbonated drink. Is the rule applicable? You can drink after and during meals" and to other types of liquid? The answer is NO! Any liquid that contains glucose is not water.

They behave completely differently: once in the stomach, any sweet drink along with food is retained in the proximal (upper) part of the stomach. That is, it turns out that the body perceives any sweetened water as FOOD, which still needs to be disassembled into its components and digested, and not as WATER! So remember the following rule:

YOU CAN ONLY DRINK DURING/AFTER MEALS PURE WATER!

Juice, compote, sweet coffee, tea, carbonated drink, wine and other liquid are not considered water!

What about UNSWEETENED tea and coffee? They are also undesirable for the following reasons:

✅coffee and green tea contain a lot of tannin. Tannin is a polyphenol that has a very beneficial effect on our body, but which, when interacting with food, does not allow iron, calcium, magnesium and others useful elements be assimilated. Therefore, it is best to drink green tea and coffee separately from meals, especially for people with iron deficiency anemia or poor absorption of mineral salts.
✅coffee also increases stomach acidity, so people suffering from increased acidity In principle, it is not recommended to drink coffee: neither alone nor with meals.
✅you also need to be extremely careful with herbal natural teas, since for the most part they either increase or decrease gastric motility, which leads to digestive disorders in any case.
✅All teas of the highest varieties contain more tannin and other extractive substances than lower ones, so green teas in this regard are more useful than black ones, since they did not lend themselves to branding. It is for this reason that if you like to drink tea with food, it is better to do it with black branded tea, but not with green or herbal tea.

3. Amount of water you drink

So, How many minutes can you drink after eating? We have already found out, now it remains to find out how much water you can drink? This is not to say that all people who advise abstaining from water for one hour after eating are stupid people. No, there is some truth in this. And that's why.

When you ate a bowl of soup (200-300 ml) at lunch, then ate a side dish with meat (300-350 ml), a bowl of salad (150-200 ml), and washed it all down with two cups of water (500-600 ml) , then by your actions you have stretched the walls of your stomach, which over time will inevitably lead to an increase in its volume, and as a result - long live increased appetite, increasing the amount of food eaten during the day and, of course, overweight . All this can be a consequence of regular habit drink water during/after meals a lot. Also, too much water after eating will slow down the process of its leaving the stomach, but to prevent all this from happening, remember the third rule:

YOU CAN DRINK IN SMALL QUANTITIES DURING/AFTER MEALS!

These were the basic rules that you need to follow if you suddenly wanted drink a glass of water during or immediately after meals.

And finally, I would like to give a couple of arguments that completely shatter the myth about the dangers of drinking a glass of water during or after a meal:

— water improves the transportation of the food bolus to the stomach;
- water makes work easier digestive system, softening large and hard pieces of food;
- water helps enzymes and acids gain access to food particles, as it is part of saliva and gastric juice.

These features of water make the digestion process much easier in its presence (water) than in its absence!

So, I hope you got the answer to the main ones exciting questions: « Can I drink it after eating? Can I drink while eating? How long after eating can you drink? etc. And the answer here is one – YOU CAN. Drink water after and during meals not that it’s possible, but, as we found out, it’s even useful, the main thing is to know when to stop and remember three basic rules: the water temperature should not be lower than room temperature, the water should not be sweet, and its volume should not exceed 200 ml. If you follow these rules, you can be sure that you will definitely benefit from water during and after meals!

Sincerely yours, Janelia Skripnik!

P.S. Drink to your health! =)

  • Why is it harmful to drink food, and what to do if you want to drink while eating
    • After meal

Water is the basis of life, and it plays a huge role in the human body. Therefore, doctors recommend drinking a sufficient amount of clean liquid throughout the day. But does it matter when a person drinks? Of course yes. It is important to know how long after eating you can drink water.

Why is it harmful to drink food, and what to do if you want to drink while eating

Many people have the habit of always adding water or juice to their food. In previous years, it was customary to wash down lunch with compote or tea. Scientific recommendations of the 40s of the last century were the need to consume one milliliter of water per calorie of food. However, modern nutritionists are against drinking. In their opinion, food should enter the body separately from liquid.

Is it harmful to drink while eating?

When a person eats dry food, he has to chew the pieces for quite a long time. This factor contributes to the release large quantity saliva, which contains a special enzyme that disinfects foods entering the stomach. In addition, well-chewed food is absorbed faster and more completely, which is also beneficial for the body. After all, the load on other organs of the digestive tract is reduced.

Many people are concerned about the question of whether it is possible to drink food at this moment? This is not worth doing. However, if you haven't drunk water beforehand, you may feel thirsty during your meal, especially if the food itself isn't very juicy. In this case a small amount of water can help digestion. Remember that if there is a shortage water balance, may begin serious problems with the intestines. It is also important to drink correctly:

  • Drinking water during meals should be done in small sips;
  • You shouldn’t swallow water right away, you need to chew it and mix it with saliva, then it will have the most beneficial effect.

We must remember that you only need to drink water that has a temperature close to body temperature:

  • too cold will simply displace undigested food from the stomach;
  • hot will have an irritating effect on its walls, preventing the process of breakdown of products.

After meal

Recent studies show that water drunk immediately after a hearty meal is not very beneficial for humans.

  • Food entering the stomach is broken down by gastric juice and the enzymes it contains. If water gets there at this moment, it reduces its concentration. The digestion process slows down. Without having time to break down completely, the food passes further into the intestines.
  • Due to the increase in digestion time, the load on all organs involved in the digestion process increases, as well as on the heart. With that said, is it okay to drink water immediately after eating?
  • Washing down food with too cool water or drinks from the refrigerator - juice, soda - is especially harmful. Such liquid quickly displaces incompletely broken down food from the stomach. Products that should be digested in it for several hours leave it much earlier - literally in 20-30 minutes. The feeling of hunger quickly returns, and the person snacks again. Therefore, people who wash down their food with cold drinks often gain excess weight.
  • Undigested food that enters the intestines is subject to putrefactive processes and gas formation. The body will not receive the necessary nutrients and energy generated when food is broken down. Moreover, the products of rotting through the intestinal walls will be absorbed into the blood, causing toxic effect and extra stress on the pancreas and heart.
  • Water, if drunk in the first minutes after eating, increases the volume of the stomach, as a result of which portions imperceptibly become larger, gradually leading to excess weight.
  • Even green or Herb tea, famous for his beneficial properties, will have an inhibitory effect on intestinal activity, delaying the reactions of food breakdown, if consumed immediately, without waiting some time after eating.

Does it have an effect on weight and weight loss?

Water is invaluable in the fight against excess weight. She dissolves harmful products metabolism that has a toxic effect and removes them from the body. Freed from toxins, systems function more productively. However, you need to know when exactly you should drink water.

Water, drunk before meals, approximately 20-40 minutes, has a positive effect on the body. Experiments have shown that it helps:

  • significantly reduce the feeling of hunger;
  • stimulate digestion processes;
  • remove remaining digestive juices from the stomach;
  • maintain normal water balance;
  • Satisfy your hunger with much less food.

A healthy morning habit would be a glass of water with a slice of lemon, drunk on an empty stomach. You can prepare the drink the night before so that it is imbued with citrus flavor and vitamins. It activates metabolic processes, helping to wake up. Many people are afraid to drink in the evening, fearing swelling. However, their cause may be salty food, which retains water in the body.

How long after eating can you drink, what exactly and at what temperature?

Is it possible to drink water after a heavy meal? In answering this question, recommendations from nutritionists should be given. They are as follows. After the next meal, enough time must pass before you can drink any drinks. The completion of the digestion process depends on many factors, including the type of food and how it is prepared. Nutritionists recommend different time periods for different foods:

  • after fruits and berries you can drink within 30-40 minutes;
  • after fresh vegetable salads, 1 hour is enough;
  • If a “heavy” dish was served for lunch, you must wait 2-3 hours.

Drinks that are too cold should not be consumed in any case, as they have a negative effect on the body. It is difficult to get enough of your food when drinking such water or compote. This property human body used with great success by establishments specializing in food instant cooking. Only they strive to increase sales volumes, and not to improve the health of customers.

Nutrition before and after training - features. Consequences of violations of the daily routine.

A beautiful, toned body is the dream of a person of any age. Only constant training and healthy image life with properly selected nutrition.

Successful smiling athletes are very serious about maintaining their daily routine and rest. Knowing the value of good health and exercise, they strictly adhere to nutritional rules before and after scheduled classes.

Why can’t you play sports or exercise immediately after eating?

girl in the gym feels bad because of a short break after eating

There are several explanations and each of them is from practice:

  • Heartburn. As a result of disruption of the digestion process in people with gastroenterological diseases, increased discomfort in the stomach up to heartburn.
  • Vomit possible if you ate just before entering the gym and did exercises that involved lifting weights or bending down.
  • Low effectiveness of exercises. The desire to take a nap or at least sit quietly increases after eating. There is increased fatigue from training, laziness to complete the exercises to the required number of approaches, while they are performed with minimal effort. You may want to stop and talk to someone or check your phone.
  • Preservation subcutaneous fat . After food is ingested, it is produced increased amount the hormone serotonin. On the one hand, it relaxes the body, and on the other, it blocks the process of fat breakdown. The last point is extremely important if your goal is to lose weight and get your body in good shape.
  • Difficulty in digestion e - instead of the stomach, blood begins to flow to the muscles, which are under increased stress. The body tries to regulate this by constricting blood vessels. As a result, all tissues and organs suffer, especially the heart and digestive system.

How many hours after eating, breakfast, lunch can you train or play different sports?



bananas, apples and water - light breakfast before jogging

Definitely do not go to the gym immediately after waking up. Have breakfast first. If you are short on time and don’t want to miss your morning workout, eat a couple of fruits, such as apples or peaches. They will be absorbed quickly, and you can start training in just a quarter of an hour.

In the case of lunch, do sports and physical activity at least an hour later, optimally after 2-3. The reason lies in the combination different products, the digestion time for which is different.

The easier the sport is in terms of physical activity, the sooner you can start exercising after eating. For example, for a chess lesson, allow 5-10 minutes of time, but before training in hand-to-hand combat or boxing, maybe 3 hours will not be enough.

When is the best time to exercise before and after meals?



man eating vegetable salad after training

Consider your diet and the type of sport you do.

  • If you prefer to eat heavily 3 times, then keep the interval before class as long as possible. Focus on your feelings - the absence of heaviness in the stomach indicates the absorption of food and future comfort from the workout.
  • For an adherent of small and frequent meals, a 1.5 hour break before starting physical activity is enough.

After training, if you are not involved in bodybuilding, eat within 20 minutes. This time is called the anabolic window, when all food that enters the stomach is digested quickly and without harm to the figure. Of course, we are not talking about fatty foods and fast food.

So, we looked at the features of eating before and after training so that the latter has maximum effect for your body, well-being and mood.

Be healthy, eat right and enjoy the activities you love!

Video: how many hours before training can you eat?

One of the pressing questions in dietetics is why you can’t drink after eating? Since childhood, we have been accustomed to drink any food with tea, compote, milk, or water. Because, according to mothers, you can’t eat dry food. Many people’s favorite ritual is to drink tea immediately after a hearty lunch. How acceptable is this? And when is it better to drink: before, during or after meals?

Why is it better not to drink any liquid immediately after eating? Here are some arguments:

a) the liquid dilutes gastric secretions;
b) the dish is difficult to digest;
c) the load on the liver, pancreas, and others increases internal organs, involved in digestion;
d) there is a high load on the secretory apparatus of the stomach;
e) gas formation increases;
e) acidity decreases.

So, is it possible to drink after eating? It’s possible, but not immediately, but after two hours.

When is the right time to drink?

It's better to quench your thirst before lunch

We are given an example of the instincts of animals: they first drink, then eat. Why should we do the same? There are several reasons:

a) water prepares the stomach for food intake;
b) frees it from food residues;
c) activates digestion;
d) allows you to get enough of less delicious food.

Water taken with food

What if you are thirsty all the time? Then you can drink while eating, carefully “chewing” the water! That’s right: you will also have to “chew” the drink. That is, do not drink water, but eat it.

In all other cases, quenching thirst while satisfying hunger does not in any way contribute to the normalization of digestion. On the contrary, it slows down, causing heaviness in the stomach and heartburn. In addition, water together with food:

1) Does not put stress on the teeth: they should chew something hard, not liquefied pulp, this weakens the gums;

2) Dilutes the contents of the stomach, disrupting the digestion process;

3) Reduces the concentration of enzymes and hydrochloric acid necessary for digestion;

4) Increases the time food remains in the stomach, promoting the proliferation of bacteria, which leads to putrefactive processes and causes stomach diseases;

5) Requires the release of additional portions of gastric juice and hydrochloric acid, which leads to heartburn and gastritis.

There is another explanation: it concerns only cold water. If you drink food with it, it does not stay long enough for digestion, but immediately passes into the intestines. This leads to rotting and fermentation, causing many problems in the digestive system. In addition, the feeling of fullness does not come, you immediately want to eat again.

Choosing the best time to drink

Let's try to decide: when is the right time to drink water or other drinks? What is water for? Water is necessary for normal operation stomach. It helps it secrete gastric juice, as well as mucus, which protects the walls of the stomach from corrosion.

To help the stomach in this way, you need to drink water half an hour before meals. This period of time is necessary so that the liquid has time to travel all the way to the glands of the stomach through the intestines and be absorbed into the blood. A glass is enough to prepare your stomach.

You can drink any liquids some time after lunch. How long it takes depends on the food eaten. For example, if the bulk of it is carbohydrates, you can drink it after an hour and a half. After taking proteins you will have to wait three hours.

How to eat solid food without drinking?

If you drink a glass of water half an hour before meals, it will be easy to eat without drinking. Your stomach will produce enough juice and saliva to soften the food.

Chew any food thoroughly and slowly. It should be well moistened with saliva. It is for this reason that you should not talk during lunch or rush and swallow food right away. As for liquid foods, such as soups, it is better to eat them no more than once a day.

Drinking instead of eating

Thirst is often confused with hunger. The reason for this is simple: the principle brain activity in both cases the same. Therefore, nutritionists advise that if you feel hungry, first drink a glass of water and wait thirty minutes. If you are still hungry, you can eat. If it goes away, it means it was thirst, not hunger.

Of course, eating is always more pleasant: after all, food usually tastes better than water. It brings physical satisfaction and produces substances necessary for brain function. But if you immediately eat food every time you want to eat, it will not have time to digest. In addition to the problems already mentioned, this will lead to obesity.