Some pills are taken with food, and others after; some are taken first thing in the morning, and others before bed. Every pharmacist will tell you that before selling you any medication, prescribed or over-the-counter; and every medical leaflet states these directions in black and white.
But what about the position you assume when you’re taking oral medications: should you be standing, lying down on one side, or sitting at the table? Does that change anything? It turns out that it does - according to a recent study from Johns Hopkins University. A seemingly minor detail like your body position and posture can either speed up or slow down the absorption of the medication.
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The closer the pill lands to the bottom of the stomach, the more rapidly it will dissolve and move on to the small intestine. The best way to achieve this is either by standing or lying on the right side. “If you’re standing upright or you’re lying down and leaning to the right, then the pill lands very close to the end region of the stomach. As a result, it dissolves pretty quickly,” said Prof. Rajat Mittal, the lead author of the study, to Verywell Health.
Somewhat counterintuitively, lying on the left side was found to be the worst position. So, remember, the right side is the RIGHT side for taking pills.
To test this, the researchers used an anatomically-accurate model of the human stomach called StomachSim. The team tested 4 possible positions for taking medication:
The results were clear - sitting or leaning on the left side made the stomach 4 times slower at absorbing the medication compared to all other positions.
The posture is important too - sitting sloping to the left side is the least beneficial. As Mittal stated, “depending on which way you’re leaning, whether you’re standing up or lying down, it can really affect where the pill lands in the stomach.” Given that most medications are absorbed in the small intestine (the penultimate destination in your GI tract) the closer the pill is to the exit of the stomach, the faster it will begin working.
Professor Mittal also added that taking pills while lying back straight are also good options, so if you or someone you care for is sedentary or bedridden, these are still good positions.
Read the study in full print in the journal Physics of Fluids here.
If you’d like a specific pill, like a pain relief medication, to work faster, try taking it while standing upright or lying on the right side. It’s certainly a great trick to keep up your sleeve. However, that doesn’t mean that you should be mindful of your position every time you take pills. After all, every medication is designed to be absorbed fully by the body; it might just take your digestive system slightly longer to take it in.
H/T: Verywell Health
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