Somewhere between 35% and 40% of adults can’t swallow pills, of have great difficulty doing so. This needn’t stop anyone benefitting from supplements if they use a little creativity.
Mixing supplements into foods and drinks
It’s easy to twist open capsules and use the powder inside. When it comes to tablets, buy a pill crusher or pestle and mortar and crush your pills into a fine powder. If you’re dexterous you can do the job with a small bowl and the back of a wooden spoon.
Mix with sweet foods
You can mix your powdered supplements with apple sauce, jam, yoghurt, or pudding for a tasty treat. Get creative with delicious flavours and textures you like, to make it more enjoyable!
Mix it in smoothies or fruit juice
Blend your pills into a delicious smoothie with your favourite fruits and veggies. The pill powder will easily mix in, and you won’t even taste it! Try adding spinach, berries, banana, and a splash of almond milk for a nutritious and easy-to-drink breakfast or snack. Many powdered supplements can also simply be mixed into a glass of fruit juice.
Stir them into savoury food
Sprinkle the powder onto foods like oatmeal, mashed potatoes, or avocado toast. Alternatively you can stir the powder into a bowl of soup. Voila! No more swallowing necessary. When you’re taking herbal supplements, choose strong flavoured foods that can disguise any bitterness.
Stir it in hot chocolate
Mix your crushed pills with a thick cup of hot cocoa. This is a great way to cover up the taste of most mineral and amino acid supplements.
Hide Pills you can’t swallow in a mouthful of food
This is the best approach with vitamin B complex, which tastes vile enough to ruin almost any food. It’s also advisable to use this method with any prescription medicine you are given, unless you have first checked with your doctor or pharmacist if it’s OK to crush them.
Wrapped in bread and spread
Spread a spoonful of peanut butter, almond butter, or Nutella onto a slice of bread or a cracker and press your pill or capsule into the spread. The creamy texture will mask any taste, and you’ll be able to gulp it down wrapped in the heart of a mouthful of sticky bread.
Dip it in honey or butter
Dip your pills or capsules into a small amount of honey for a sweet and sticky way to take your supplements. The honey will coat the pill and make it easier to swallow, plus it adds a touch of natural sweetness. Some people prefer butter, which makes the pills very slippery.
Getting creative with supplement snacks!
Vitamin ice lollies
You can buy reusable ice-lolly moulds in many places. Prepare a smoothie mix, fruit juice or even just fruit concentrate to fill them, adding your powdered supplements for a refreshing and thoroughly nutritious summer snack!
Make Jelly Sweets
Create your own jelly sweets by mixing your crushed pills or opened capsules with flavoured gelatin. You can buy sugar-free jelly powder in sachets or the sugary kind in gooey lumps. Mix up your jelly using one tenth of the water that the instructions tell you, so you end up with jelly lumps you can pick up with your fingers. Pour the mixture into ice cube trays and let it set in the refrigerator. Pop one out whenever it’s time to take your supplements for a fun and jiggly way to get your dose!
Bake supplement biscuits or brownies
You can add powdered supplements to most biscuit or cake recipes and cook them as normal. Do the maths to work out how much to add, so you end up with one day’s correct daily dose in each biscuit or cupcake. Many vitamins are damaged by heat, so it’s best to stick to doing this only with minerals and herbs, and put your vitamins in recipes that avoid much exposure to heat.
Chocolate fudge
There are various recipes for chocolate fudge online, which usually include melting chocolate and condensed milk, or mixing cocoa and powdered milk with sugar melted in butter. There are also vegan variations of these recipes. Adding vitamin pills to these fudge recipes is an ideal way to swallow them without exposing them to much heat.
Try a Pill Shooter
Yes, we know they’re sold for cats and dogs. Why can’t humans use them too? They look a bit like an injection syringe and work by getting the pill right at the back of your throat for easier swallowing. They can solve a problem for people who can’t manoeuvre tablets far enough back in their throat to swallow them down – a problem that’s more common in people who were born as premature babies. It’s a handy gadget to have on hand for those days when you just can’t seem to get your pills near your throat!
Finally, a note on Supplement flavours
- Most minerals – apart from iron – have a mild flavour that you won’t taste when they’re mixed with even bland foods. Good quality mineral supplements will disperse fully in liquids, but steer clear of supplements with nasty additives that leave a gritty residue at the bottom of drinks.
- Iron tastes like blood, but you can disguise it well with tropical fruits like pineapple, mango or kiwi. It also blends in well with curry and strong meat dishes.
- Most vitamins have a tart taste that can be bitter, but becomes tangy and pleasant when mixed with fresh fruit or anything sugary. This means they go well in fruit juices, smoothies and fruit based deserts.
- Vitamin B complex tastes bitter and truly disgusting. You’ll have to disguise it with extremely strong flavours or large amounts of sugar and it has to be very diluted indeed. When it comes to vitamin B Complex, it is far better to try the tips for swallowing the pills whole.
With these creative ideas, taking your pills can be a fun and enjoyable part of your day!
