{"id":14963,"date":"2022-04-01T16:27:27","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T16:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/?p=14963"},"modified":"2026-04-14T09:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T09:42:07","slug":"ways-to-make-swallowing-pills-easier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/ways-to-make-swallowing-pills-easier\/","title":{"rendered":"5 tips to make swallowing pills easier"},"content":{"rendered":"You\u2019re doing your best to take care of your health\u2014exercising, eating a balanced diet, drinking water and taking supplements&#8230; well, kind of. That last one can be challenging if you hate swallowing pills. It\u2019s not your fault; it\u2019s a real struggle for many of us. But before you decide to throw in the towel, there are some tricks out there that can help you out. \r\r\r\rHere are 5 that we recommend:\u00a0\r\r\r\r\u00a0\r\r\r\r1) Drink (lots of) water\u00a0\r\r\r\rStart with a few swigs of water before taking your supplements. It might sound a little silly, but it gives your body a few practice runs while also lubricating your throat. When your mouth is dry, it\u2019s harder to swallow and it raises the chance of feeling the pills go down. Make sure to have another few gulps after taking your supplements, so they reach your stomach without any discomfort.\u00a0\u00a0\r\r\r\r\u00a0\r\r\r\r2) Try thick liquids\u00a0\r\r\r\rYou might have better success with drinks that have a thicker consistency. We\u2019re often told only to take our supplements with water, but switching to liquids that have a higher viscosity like smoothies, milk or pulp juice can make a world of difference. Thick liquids slow down your swallowing process and help prevent the pills and liquid from separating, making it easier to swallow. Their gooeyness also helps mask the feeling of pills in your mouth\u2014and some of these drinks can even give your supplements a leg up to improve absorption.\u00a0\r\r\r\r\u00a0\r\r\r\r3) Hide it in food\u00a0\r\r\r\rSometimes it&#8217;s our head that gets in the way. We think too much about it. Normally, when we eat or drink, we\u2019re able to swallow without any thought, but when it comes to pills, we\u2019re suddenly very aware of what we\u2019re doing. We think about swallowing and every step that goes into it. And the more we think about it, the harder it gets.\u00a0\u00a0\r\r\r\rIf this is your struggle, tricking yourself into thinking you\u2019re eating something else can help. Hide your supplements in food, such as applesauce, a banana or yogurt. You may find that you\u2019re able to swallow your pills without thinking\u2014out of sight, out of mind.\u00a0\u00a0\r\r\r\rHeads up: It might be tempting to open the capsules or crush the pills when mixing it with food but it\u2019s best to avoid this. The taste can be off-putting and may just increase your aversion to pills. More importantly, many supplements are time released with a special coating. Changing their form can reduce their effectiveness.\u00a0\r\r\r\r\u00a0\r\r\r\r4) First, water\u00a0\r\r\r\rIf your issue is that you don\u2019t like the feeling of pills in your mouth before you wash them down, a simple solution might be tweaking your steps. Instead of putting the supplements in your mouth first, start with water. Take a sip, hold the water in your mouth, then plop the pill in and swallow.\u00a0\u00a0\r\r\r\r\u00a0\r\r\r\r5) Separate your floats from your non-floats\u00a0\r\r\r\rUse your body to help you out. You\u2019ll notice some supplements are capsules that float in water, while others are heavier tablets that sink. There\u2019s a special movement for swallowing each of these pill types that may make it easier:\u00a0\r\r\r\rFor the capsules that float in water, use the lean-forward method: Start by placing the supplements on your tongue, take a sip of water and as you swallow, slowly tilt your head down toward your chest and lean forward.\u00a0\u00a0\r\r\r\rFor the non-floats, try the pop bottle method: You\u2019ll first need a water bottle with a narrow opening. Start by placing the tablets on your tongue, then close your lips around the opening, tilt your head back slightly, and swallow.\u00a0\u00a0\r\r\r\rIf you don\u2019t have success with these the first time, don\u2019t stress. Like anything, it can take a few practice rounds to find what works best for you. In the end, if nothing else works, there are other ways of supplementing your diet, like with powders and gummies. But when considering these pill alternatives, make sure they\u2019re not packed with fillers or sugar. Persona\u2019s foundation multivitamin powder and gummy packs are great options (if you don\u2019t mind me saying&#8230; ?).\u00a0\r\r\r\r\u00a0\r\r\r\rAbout Gabby\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\r\r\r\rGabby is a nutritionist with a master\u2019s degree in strategic communications. She loves using her nutrition-fluency with storytelling to encourage positive change. Before Persona, she worked at a mental health clinic helping clients manage stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues through diet.\u00a0\r\r\r\rGabby is just one of Persona\u2019s team of qualified nutritionists. Do you have questions about nutrition? Reach out. Our experts would love to help.\u00a0\r\r\r\r\u00a0\r\r\r\rThis information is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. Do not use the information from this article for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing medication or other treatment. Always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medication or nutritional, herbal or homeopathic supplement, or using any treatment for a health problem. If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, contact your health care provider promptly. Do not disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking professional advice because of something you have read in this article.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019re doing your best to take care of your health\u2014exercising, eating a balanced diet, drinking water and taking supplements&#8230; well, kind of. That last one can be challenging if you hate swallowing pills. It\u2019s not your","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":15015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,1893,1921],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vitamins-supplements","category-wellness-journey","category-wellness-journey-pro-tips"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14963"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19785,"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14963\/revisions\/19785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.personanutrition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}