PERIPRANDIAL HYDRATION AS A PHYSICOCHEMICAL MODULATOR OF CHYME RHEOLOGY AND ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66104/m71th025Keywords:
Gastric digestion, Water activity, Food structure, Digestive rheology, Gastric emptyingAbstract
Digestive physiology is commonly interpreted through biochemical frameworks centered on enzyme activity and nutrient metabolism. However, the physicochemical environment in which digestion occurs, particularly the rheological transformation of ingested food into chime, remains comparatively underexplored. A persistent assumption in nutritional discourse suggests that water intake during meals dilutes gastric acid and may impair digestion. This study critically examines this assumption by analyzing the role of periprandial hydration as a physicochemical factor influencing digestive processes. The main objective was to evaluate how hydration conditions affect chyme rheology and the kinetics of enzymatic hydrolysis during the digestion of solid foods. An integrative literature review was conducted between November 2025 and February 2026 using four international databases. The search strategy combined descriptors related to gastric digestion, food structure, rheology, water activity, and gastric fluid dynamics. The initial search retrieved 315 publications, which were systematically screened according to predefined eligibility criteria. After sequential evaluation of titles, abstracts, and full texts, 30 studies composed the final analytical corpus. The synthesis of evidence indicated that hydration influences digestion through multiple mechanisms. Adequate water availability reduces viscosity and enhances the mechanical dispersion of food particles, facilitating the formation of physiologically appropriate chyme. Hydration also increases water activity and molecular mobility within food matrices, improving enzymatic accessibility and reducing diffusion limitations during hydrolysis reactions. Conversely, poorly hydrated solid meals may impose additional mechanical and physiological demands on the digestive system. Overall, the findings suggest that periprandial hydration acts as a physicochemical modulator of digestive efficiency rather than a diluent of gastric acidity.
Downloads
References
ALLEN, A.; FLEMSTRÖM, G. Gastroduodenal mucus bicarbonate barrier: protection against acid and pepsin. American Journal of Physiology – Cell Physiology, v. 288, n. 1, p. C1–C19, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpcell.00102.2004
BORNHORST, G. M.; SINGH, R. Food structure and gastric digestion: the role of physical form and rheology. Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, v. 5, p. 111–132, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-food-030713-092346
BROOME, M. E. Integrative literature reviews for the development of concepts. In: RODGERS, B.; KNAFL, K. (ed.). Concept development in nursing: foundations, techniques, and applications. 2. ed. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 2000.
CHEN, J.; ENGELEN, L. Food oral processing: fundamentals of eating and sensory perception. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444341263
CHEN, J.; STOKES, J. R. Rheology and tribology: two distinctive regimes of food texture sensation. Trends in Food Science & Technology, v. 25, n. 1, p. 4–12, 2012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2011.11.006
COSTA, A. I. A.; DEKKER, M.; JONGEN, W. M. F. An overview of mechanisms underlying gastric digestion of foods. Food Research International, v. 105, p. 831–842, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2017.12.011
DALY, K.; AL-RAMMAHI, M.; ARORA, D. et al. Imaging gastrointestinal digestion and absorption using MRI. Current Opinion in Food Science, v. 33, p. 63–70, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2019.12.001
DRESSMAN, J.; KRÄMER, J. Pharmaceutical dissolution testing. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420056099
FISZMAN, S.; VARELA, P. The role of rheology in food digestion and satiety. Current Opinion in Food Science, v. 9, p. 29–34, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2016.01.003
HOPIA, H.; LATVALA, E.; LIIMATAINEN, L. Reviewing the methodology of an integrative review. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, v. 30, n. 4, p. 662–669, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12327
JIN, Y. et al. Impact of food viscosity on in vitro gastric emptying using dynamic digestion models. Food Hydrocolloids, v. 138, 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2022.108451
KOZU, H. et al. In vitro evaluation of chemical and physical gastric digestion systems. Foods, v. 14, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081435
MARCIANI, L. Assessment of gastrointestinal motor functions by MRI: a comprehensive review. Neurogastroenterology & Motility, v. 23, n. 5, p. 399–407, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2982.2011.01640.x
MINEKUS, M. et al. A standardised static in vitro digestion method suitable for food – an international consensus. Food & Function, v. 5, n. 6, p. 1113–1124, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C3FO60702J
MOXON, T. E.; GOUSETI, O.; BAKALIS, S. The effect of meal viscosity on gastric emptying and nutrient digestion. Journal of Food Engineering, v. 241, p. 97–108, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2018.08.006
NAU, F.; BROSSARD, C.; GAUDICHON, C. Spatial-temporal changes in pH, structure and rheology of gastric chyme. Food Chemistry, v. 290, p. 345–354, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.03.097
NORTON, I.; FRYER, P.; MOORE, S. Product/process integration in food manufacture: rheology and digestion. Food Biophysics, v. 11, p. 1–10, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11483-015-9413-6
OPPENHEIMER, S.; TOUGAS, G. The stomach as a bioreactor: gastric mixing and digestion dynamics. Gastroenterology Clinics of North America, v. 46, p. 113–126, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gtc.2016.09.003
PAL, A.; INDIRESHKUMAR, K.; SCHWIZER, W. Gastric flow and mixing studied using MRI. American Journal of Physiology, v. 284, p. G332–G340, 2003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpgi.00350.2002
PETERS, H. P. F. et al. Gastric emptying of a solid meal is accelerated by drinking water. Digestive Diseases and Sciences, v. 46, n. 7, p. 1460–1466, 2001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010658128742
REBOUL, E.; BOREL, P. Digestion and absorption of lipids: influence of food structure and matrix. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care, v. 14, p. 133–138, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/MCO.0b013e328342b5d6
SINGH, H.; YE, A.; FERRUA, M. Structural and biochemical changes during food digestion. Food Research International, v. 76, p. 233–242, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2015.07.024
TAMARGO, A. et al. Physical effects of dietary fibre on simulated luminal flow and digestion rheology. Food & Function, v. 10, p. 601–612, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C9FO00485H
TORRACO, R. J. Writing integrative literature reviews: guidelines and examples. Human Resource Development Review, v. 5, n. 3, p. 356–367, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484316671606
WHITTEMORE, R.; KNAFL, K. The integrative review: updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing, v. 52, n. 5, p. 546–553, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x
WICKHAM, M.; FAULKS, R.; MILLS, C. In vitro digestion methods for assessing food bioaccessibility. Trends in Food Science & Technology, v. 19, p. 604–615, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2017.10.011
WILCOX, M. D. et al. Rheological properties of gastric formulations and satiety effects in simulated digestion. Annals of Esophagus, v. 5, 2022. Disponível em: https://aoe.amegroups.org/article/view/6113/html
YU, W.; WANG, Y.; CHEN, J. Role of water mobility and activity in enzymatic food digestion. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, v. 61, n. 3, p. 387–399, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2020.1736625
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Paulo Roberto Ramos, Paulo César Fagundes Neves , Manoel Messias Alves de Souza , Itamar Santos , Anne Caroline Coelho Leal Árias Amorim , Fernanda Patrícia Soares Souto Novaes , Diego Barbosa de Queiroz , Matheus Sobral Silveira , Marcos Veríssimo de Oliveira Cardoso , Gustavo Frensch
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits the sharing of the work with proper acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal;
Authors are authorized to enter into separate, additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (e.g., posting in an institutional repository or publishing it as a book chapter), provided that authorship and initial publication in this journal are properly acknowledged, and that the work is adapted to the template of the respective repository;
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post and distribute their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their personal websites) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this may lead to productive exchanges and increase the impact and citation of the published work (see The Effect of Open Access);
Authors are responsible for correctly providing their personal information, including name, keywords, abstracts, and other relevant data, thereby defining how they wish to be cited. The journal’s editorial board is not responsible for any errors or inconsistencies in these records.
PRIVACY POLICY
The names and email addresses provided to this journal will be used exclusively for the purposes of this publication and will not be made available for any other purpose or to third parties.
Note: All content of the work is the sole responsibility of the author and the advisor.
