This is a topic my family has entertained at the dinner table many times: "Do you drink water before or after your meal?" My parents swear that it should never be done during the meal because it "dilutes the digestive juices." My siblings believe that drinking water between bites helps digest. Really, is this topic in any way significant? Indeed, it's a matter of concern to most families, and they ask us when to drink water - before, during, or after a meal.

Water is one of the essential necessities of life, but the body uses it for so many activities. It is approximately 60% of the total body that performs and helps to keep up our health and well-being. As very few people do not know to drink water, the debate continues about the timing issue in and around meals-to drink before meal or after meal.

Ms. Kalpana Gupta, Clinical Nutritionist, Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket says, "There is no one universal rule to gain weight, it depends a lot on body type, metabolic rate, daily routine and physical activity during the day. For instance, individual with slower metabolism needs to be cautious of calories intake especially from carbohydrates and fats, instead he/she needs to focus more on protein-based calories. "

"Whereas individuals with high metabolic rate can consume high carbs and fats along with balanced protein in their diet. That will help them to gain weight with equal proportion and muscle growth. However, regardless of metabolic rate, the cornerstone of a successful weight gain strategy is maintaining a balanced diet that ensures all essential nutrients are included."

When should one drink water? Before or after food?

To determine the right time to drink, one has to consider these and other ways through which water could influence one's body in digestion, metabolism, and nutrient absorption. Some others say that drinking water should be before meals while others warn against doing so. The bottom line depends on your body needs.

Ms Kalpana continues, "What each and everyone have to avoid while their weight gaining journey is mindless eating and consumption of empty calories via beverages and fast food, as this will lead to unhealthy weight gain and unnecessary health issues. One should focus on a balanced diet that is comprise of a mix of proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. This holistic approach not only promotes weight gain but also ensures that the body functions optimally."

Advantages of Drinking Water Before Meals

1. Reduces Hunger

Drinking water before a meal cuts down on visible appetite. This means you can feel full at the time of eating, so you take fewer calories. To weight management people, drinking water before meals would prevent overfeeding without compromising the nutritional intake.

2. Better Digestion

This helps stimulate the production of gastric juices, promoting food breakdown. It readies your digestive system to ensure that the food you consume moves as easily as possible through your digestive tract. This can be particularly helpful for people prone to indigestion or bloating.

3. Hydration

Drinking water before one's meal ensures that one's body gets the amount of water it needs to carry on basic processes, which include digestion. Proper intake of water is, therefore, crucial for general maintenance of health and supports the maintenance of daily energy supply.

Drinking Water During Meals

Drinking water at a meal does not "dilute" digestive juices nor hinder digestion. In fact, small sips of water ingested with a meal can help support the digestive process by helping foods break down more efficiently. At some point, however, too much drinking may be bothersome or make the consumer feel too full.

To the average person, a sip of water between bites is well acceptable and can even increase the quality of eating by making it easier to swallow food.

The secret to this lies in the moderation aspect: excessive drinking of water while eating could lead to bloating or too early satisfaction before the body can take in what is regarded as enough nutrient dosage.

Advantages of Drinking Water After Meals

1. Increases Nutrient Intake

Water helps the body to absorb vitamins and minerals in diet food. Drinking of water after dinner will ensure that the nutrients are assimilated into body efficiently.

2. Boosts Metabolism

Research has shown that drinking water does burn more calories, and thus boosts the metabolism. Drinking of water 30 to 60 minutes after a meal helps assist digestion without drowning the stomach.

3. Aids Digestion

When a person drinks water immediately after the meal, it contributes to the movement of food within the digestive system. The digestive processes will be less bothersome, and chances of constipation will become minimal as well. When a person suffers from indigestion and heartburn, he or she needs to wait for some time to pass before taking a huge amount of water to avoid any discomfort in his digestive system.

Works Best for You?

As far as the drinking of water is concerned during meals, there can never be one fixed approach. One may drink water a few minutes before and after or even during the meal-whatever helps one's body to feel at its best.

"Along with diet, physical activity plays a vital role in your weight gain journey. Heavy weight training and strength exercises help in building optimal muscle mass and balanced weight gain. Customized diet is required for everyone that will help them to achieve their specific goals," recommends Ms Kalpana.

A dehydrated body has its consequences on health altogether, and by listening to its signals, you should manage to get the perfect balance. The best time to drink water is that which can work according to one's convenience.

Have you heard yet? The Breast milk ice cream by OddFellows and Frida is the hottest talk of the town. While the ice cream is actually not made with real breast milk, the taste is said to mimic it. It is a bit sweet, a bit salty and has hints of honey with a "dash of colostrum", states Frida's website. According to Frida's official press release, the company wanted to answer the question that everyone "secretly wondered": What does breast milk actually taste like?

The Press Release read, as published by People, "The ice cream will be a pitch-perfect representation of the sweet, creamy, nutrient-packed goodness we’ve all wanted to try but have been afraid to ask about. It will include some of the same nutrients — fats (Omega-3 brain fuel!), carbs (energy-boosting lactose), important vitamins (iron, calcium, vitamins B and D, and zinc), plus lots of H2O for hydration."

While the ice cream may not have been made from actual breast milk, many adults consume breast milk for purported health benefits. As per a 2015 study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, adults are buying breast milk from online market. It is marketed as "super food" and has emerged as a craze among adults.

The study notes: "While breast milk has long been promoted as optimal for infant nutrition, among CrossFit, BodyBuilding, Palaeo and other fitness communities, fetishists, chronic disease sufferers and even foodies, breast milk is in demand. In the UK, breast milk ice cream is for sale. In the USA, a lollypop company sells a breast milk-flavoured sweet. Primarily, though, the milk is sold in its raw state, ready to drink."

But, is it really that necessary for adults to consume this "super food" made for the babies? Do fitness freak really need breast milk for muscles? To know answers to these questions, we spoke to Ms Edwina Raj, Head of Services, Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics at Aster CMI Hospital, Bengaluru.

Raj says that there is no scientific evidence that breast milk provides unique muscle gain or recovery benefits for adults beyond what regular protein sources offer.

Is Breast Milk For Adults?

"While it [breast milk] contains proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and growth factors ideal for infants, the protein content is relatively low compared to whey, casein, or plant-based protein powders commonly used by athletes. Claims that breast milk boosts performance often stem from its association with growth-promoting compounds for babies, but these do not have the same impact on fully developed adult bodies," explains Raj.

For adults, the muscle gain actually relies on adequate protein intake, balanced diet and proper training.

Do Adults REALLY Need This "Super Food"?

The main claim that makes breast milk so enticing even to adults is that it provides all essential nutrients for one to sustain. However, explains Raj, the nutrients in breast milk can be matched. Though, she agrees that it cannot mimic the benefits of immunonutrients. However, Raj says that other key components like proteins, healthy fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and beneficial compounds are all readily available in a balanced diet.

For example, high-quality protein from eggs, dairy, lean meats, legumes, and whey supplements can exceed breast milk’s protein content, while omega-3 fatty acids from fish, flaxseeds, and walnuts offer equal or greater heart and brain benefits. Vitamins and minerals found in breast milk can be obtained from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fortified foods. Even immune-supporting and gut-friendly compounds can be obtained through probiotics, prebiotics, and nutrient-rich foods.

Raj says, "[Breast milk] it doesn’t offer any essential nutritional benefits to healthy adults that they can’t get from regular foods or supplements. Its proteins, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals can all be obtained from a balanced diet, and the immune-boosting antibodies in breast milk are most effective for developing infant immune systems, not fully matured adult ones."

Hygiene Issues

For products like breast milk ice cream, strict hygiene and safety checks are essential to ensure it’s safe for adult consumption.

Raj notes that the donor must be screened for infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, and other transmissible illnesses, similar to blood donation protocols.

Although breast milk flavoring ingredient may be of small amount but the milk should be collected using sterile equipment, handled with gloved hands, and stored at safe temperatures to prevent bacterial growth.

"Pasteurization is crucial to kill harmful bacteria and viruses without significantly altering nutritional content. Production facilities must follow food safety regulations, including contamination control, regular microbial testing, and proper labelling," she says.

Consumers should only source such products from regulated, tested suppliers, as untested breast milk can carry serious health risks for adults.

Talking about the breast milk flavoured ice cream, she says, "Breast milk flavored ice cream can shock the consumer yet cannot be superior to what a balanced adult diet can provide, and the immune-boosting properties mainly benefit infants, for its benefit in adults are yet to be studied."

"As long as it’s made under strict safety standards, it can be a quirky treat but not a game-changer in adult nutrition," she says.

What if we tell you that a naturally occurring molecule can do wonders like Ozempic, but without the side effects. Hard to believe, isn't it? However, Stanford Medicine researchers have found a molecule that acts similar to semaglutide, by suppressing appetite and reducing body weight. The trials on animals have also shown that it worked without some of the drug's side effects, including nausea, constipation and significant loss of muscle mass.

The paper was published on March 5 in Nature, and led by Laetitia Coassolo, PhD, Kartin Svensson, assistant professor of pathology.

What Is This Naturally Occurring Molecule?

This newly discovered molecule is BRP. This acts, though, in a separate pathway, but has similar metabolic effects. It can activate different neurons in the brain and offer a more targeted approach to body weight reduction.

Stanford Medicine's release quoted Svensson, PhD, who explained, "the receptors targeted by semaglutide are found in the brain but also in the gut, pancreas and other tissues. That’s why Ozempic has widespread effects including slowing the movement of food through the digestive tract and lowering blood sugar levels. In contrast, BRP appears to act specifically in the hypothalamus, which controls appetite and metabolism.”

Svensson has also co-founded a company to launch clinical trials of the molecule in humans in the near future.

How Was The Study Conducted?

This study would not have been possible without the help of AI, notes the release. Researchers used AI to sift through dozens of proteins in a group called prohormones.

Prohormones are molecules that do not do anything on their own at first. They become active only after being cut into smaller pieces, called peptides, by other proteins. Some of these peptides then act as hormones, controlling important functions in the body, such as energy use in the brain and other organs.

Each prohormone can be cut in different ways, producing many possible peptides. Among these, only a few actually work as hormones, while most are just byproducts of protein breakdown. Traditional lab methods make it hard to find the useful peptides in this mix.

The researchers focused on an enzyme called prohormone convertase 1/3, which cuts prohormones at specific points in the amino acid chain. This enzyme has been linked to obesity in humans. One of the peptides it produces is GLP-1, which helps control appetite and blood sugar levels.

The drug semaglutide works by mimicking GLP-1. The team wanted to see if there were other peptides from this enzyme that also play a role in energy metabolism.

To do this, they created a computer program called Peptide Predictor. Instead of manually sorting through proteins, the program scanned all 20,000 human protein-coding genes to find likely cutting sites for prohormone convertase 1/3. They focused only on proteins that are secreted outside the cell, a key feature of hormones, and that had at least four cutting sites. This narrowed the list to 373 prohormones.

The program predicted that these could produce 2,683 unique peptides. The team then looked at those most likely to act in the brain and tested 100 of them, including GLP-1, on lab-grown nerve cells.

GLP-1 increased cell activity about three times compared to normal cells, as expected. But one small peptide, just 12 amino acids long, increased activity tenfold. They named it BRP, based on the name of its parent protein BRINP2.

What Did The Result Reveal?

Tests on lean mice and minipigs showed promising results. An injection of BRP before feeding reduced food intake by up to 50% over the next hour. In obese mice, daily injections for two weeks led to an average weight loss of 3 grams, mostly fat, while untreated mice gained about 3 grams. The treated mice also had better blood sugar control.

Importantly, BRP did not change the animals’ movement, water intake, anxiety levels, or digestion. It also works through different brain and body pathways than GLP-1 or semaglutide, which could make it useful for people who do not respond well to those drugs.

What's Next?

Researchers now want to find the exact cell receptors BRP binds to and figure out how to make its effects last longer in the body. If it proves safe and effective in humans, BRP could offer a new option for treating obesity.

The study was a collaboration between scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, and the University of British Columbia.

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moves to ban certain synthetic food dyes, consumers are turning their attention to natural options. One vibrant contender is blue spirulina, an eye-catching, plant-based pigment that has found its way into smoothies, candies, beverages, and even gourmet salad dressings.

The History and Science Of The Color

Blue spirulina is an extract of green spirulina, a type of blue-green algae classified as cyanobacteria. Its intense color comes from phycocyanin, a potent antioxidant not found in land plants. While spirulina itself has been consumed in various cultures for centuries, the blue variety gained FDA approval as a food color additive in 2013 for use in candy and gum.

Approval has since expanded to include non-alcoholic drinks, condiments, dairy alternatives, seasoning mixes, salad dressings, and certain low-alcohol beverages.

NASA once studied spirulina as a space food supplement, thanks to its nutrient density and antioxidant properties. However, dietitians caution against assuming blue spirulina is a nutritional powerhouse in large doses. “There are some benefits, but the hype is largely due to its Instagram-worthy color,” says Caroline Thomason, a Washington, D.C.-based dietitian, as reported by USA Today.

Safety and Regulation

Any color additive sold in the U.S. must undergo FDA evaluation before hitting the market. The agency’s approval indicates that the benefits outweigh potential drawbacks, but does not guarantee absolute safety. Blue spirulina is classified as a color additive exempt from certification, meaning each batch does not require individual testing before sale.

This exemption raises quality concerns. Harvard Health notes that products can vary in purity, and some may not contain the promised levels of spirulina. Contamination is another risk. Between 2018 and 2020, three blue-green algae products—two supplements and one beverage—were recalled for containing unsafe levels of microcystins, natural toxins that can damage the liver and kidneys.

“It’s generally safe in small amounts, though the quality can vary between brands,” says Thomason. “Choose a reputable source to avoid contamination with heavy metals or toxins, which can happen in poorly regulated algae products.”

Nutritional Value and Limits

While whole spirulina offers a rich profile of protein, vitamins, and minerals, the blue extract contains fewer nutrients. Still, it delivers antioxidants that may help reduce inflammation, similar to those in blueberries or red cabbage.

Adding blue spirulina to foods and drinks can be a fun way to experiment with color and flavor. However, Thomason warns that treating it like a miracle superfood can backfire. “As with any trendy health ingredient, going overboard might lead to nutrient gaps or an unhealthy fixation,” she says.

With the FDA’s crackdown on synthetic dyes, blue spirulina stands out as a visually stunning, naturally derived option for coloring foods.

If you plan to incorporate it into your meals, do so occasionally, and after consulting an expert and source it from trusted brands.