# Taking pills with food: How much food counts as food?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-pills-with-food-how-much-food-counts-as-food/812428>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 14, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-pills-with-food-how-much-food-counts-as-food/812428 "2018-04-14T21:04:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-pills-with-food-how-much-food-counts-as-food/812428/21 "2018-04-16T01:14:06Z")

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My answer is also the bit that preceded it about getting the digestive system going, including raising acidity.

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**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-pills-with-food-how-much-food-counts-as-food/812428/22 "2018-04-16T01:15:30Z")

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> [@MichaelEmouse](#):
>
> My answer is also the bit that preceded it about getting the digestive system going, including raising acidity.

I deleted that bit because you just mentioned food, not fat specifically. If you did indeed mean fat, I apologize for not including it. It would have changed my response.

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**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-pills-with-food-how-much-food-counts-as-food/812428/23 "2018-04-16T02:44:16Z")

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> [@Ambivalid](#):
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> I question this because if this is true, why do no medications ever specify beyond mentioning food or meals? That is sure leaving a lot of inferring to be done on the part of the patient. “Take with food” could mean many things that don’t contain much, if any, fat: Cereal with skim, fruit, popcorn, etc.

I know I’ve had prescriptions that specified not to take them within 2 hours of anything containing calcium, for example.

When I had an antibiotic prescription that specified only to take with food if taking on a n empty stomach caused stomach upset, something as small as a couple of walnuts or a tablespoon of granola would do the trick for me. Just enough so my stomach wasn’t completely empty.

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**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-pills-with-food-how-much-food-counts-as-food/812428/24 "2018-04-17T23:55:37Z")

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> [@Ambivalid](#):
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> Maybe I’m reading too much into it but maybe when the prescription uses the language, “should be taken with meals”, the medication is meant to be taken with a more substantial amount of food. Versus the language, “should be taken with food”, which could mean as little as a small snack?

The label does say to take “with food”.

I did get a chance to talk to my doctor, who said (1) eating a small snack like a cup of yogurt should suffice, you just don’t want to take it on a completely empty stomach, and (2) when I told him about WebMD’s food restrictions, he said, “I really don’t think that matters.” Who knows if he’s right, but the blood test showed my iron levels nearly back up to normal, so there’s that point in his favor.

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