Most new patients who come to see me are already taking vitamin supplements.

In fact, they’re usually taking the right supplements!

The problem is they either are not taking a strong enough dose in order to have a therapeutic effect, or their supplements are not dissolving and end up in the toilet instead of their bloodstream.

You’ve probably heard the stories about vitamin supplements. Whole tablets being seen in the intestines on x-rays. Whole tablets being found routinely in septic systems.

How do you know if your vitamin tablets are dissolving or just end up down the plumbing pipes? Aside from examining your stool (which you could do, but I bet you won’t!) there’s an easier test you can do.

The Vinegar Test

This is how it works. The acid in your stomach is a pH of 1.0 to 3.5. The acid content of white vinegar is a pH of about 2.4. This means you can use plain old white vinegar to see if your vitamin tablets dissolve or not.

If they dissolve in the white vinegar, they will most likely dissolve in your stomach too.

(Unless you use acid blocking medications, in which case this entire experiment doesn’t hold true.)

So, to a clear glass, add ¼ cup white vinegar, then a vitamin tablet. Set your timer for thirty minutes.

If at the end of thirty minutes:

• The tablet has not dissolved, it will probably not dissolve in your stomach either, and will end up straight in your toilet. That tablet is garbage and a waste of money. Find a better supplement.
• The tablet has dissolved completely, it should dissolve completely in your stomach too.
• The tablet has only partially dissolved, poke at it with your finger and see if it will break down more. (In reality, the movement of your stomach churning your food will help break the tablet down.) But if the tablet is still rock hard, the rest of it will probably end up languishing in the sewer. In that case, it’s garbage and you need to find a better supplement.

Until I heard about the vinegar test, I trusted my vitamin reps who always told me, “All our supplements are pharmaceutical grade and are rigorously tested for dissolvability and absorption,” or “We only use the highest standards for making sure our tablets dissolve.”

Then I did the vinegar test on all the supplements I took that were in tablet form. And I was shocked at what I found.

Some of the tablets dissolved completely – these I kept in my vitamin dispensary.

Many of the tablets dissolved partially but at the core were still rock hard. Some of the tables didn’t dissolve at all.

(And these tablets were from some of the most expensive supplement companies too!)

I got rid of all these.

The vinegar test works best on tablets.

Sure, you could test your capsules, but save your time—capsules always dissolve.

That should give you a hint: Supplements work best in capsule (or powder or liquid) forms. They are the easiest for your body to break down and absorb, compared to tablets. More ends up in your bloodstream instead of down your toilet!

In my dispensary, 99 percent of the supplements I now carry are capsules because I know they will always dissolve and end up in my patient’s bloodstream.

Make a promise to yourself starting today:

Stop feeling lousy…rotten…awful…crummy…miserable…terrible…crappy.

Find a good Functional Medicine doctor to help you get to the root cause of your health problems and who will make sure you’re taking the right supplements.

Like I always say:

Find the cause.

Fix the cause.

Feel normal again!

Dr. Carri Drzyzga, DC, ND – The Functional Medicine Doc

Find the Cause. Fix the Cause. Feel Normal Again!