Why do some medications and vitamins say that you have to take them with a meal?
In: Biology
Besides the answers others have given, one medication I take for Diabetes helps with blood sugar and is meant to be taken with food (technically before meals).
Some vitamins are fat soluble which means they dissolve in fat. In order to digest the vitamin your body has to break it down and fat soluble vitamins break down much better in fat, so if you eat some food along with the vitamin it will absorb better
If your stomach is pretty much empty the digestive juices in it can be concentrated. the pill hits the pool and dissolves quickly! In the case of vitamins it can cause your body to reject it and you barf. If it’s a medication, some of them need to be absorbed slowly and if you absorb it quickly it can shock you system. having food in your stomach dilutes the stomach juices and slows absorption.
Some vitamins are better absorbed when the digestive track is prepared to absorb food. Also, some substances can be corrosive to the gastrointestinal tract. Food acts like a buffer in this case. More detailed information can be given by someone who isn’t a lazy sack of crap like myself.
A lot of medication is particularly hard on the stomach.
NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs) like Advil for example temporarily disable your stomachs ability to produce mucus that protects the stomach lining. So extended use of Advil for some people can cause ulcers as the stomach acid burns away at the stomach lining.
Eating with food reduces this effect.
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