Vitamins or supplements have to dissolve before they can be absorbed by the body. Pills that do not dissolve pass through the body and don't provide a benefit, advises Vitamer Laboratories of Irvine, California. Many people drop their vitamins into a cup of vinegar to see if it will dissolve in attempt to mimic the effect of stomach acid. Vinegar is useful in determining whether vitamins are useful, but there's more to the process than simply dropping a pill in a vinegar-filled glass and watching it.
Step 1
Heat 1/2 cup of vinegar to 98.6 degrees F, which is the average body temperature. You can use the hot-plate part of a coffee machine and a heat-safe cup if you'd like. When you take the water temperature with a thermometer do not let the thermometer rest at the bottom of the cup. The heat here is most intense, and you'll get a false reading if you take it in this area, advises the "Montana Standard" newspaper.
Step 2
Put your vitamin into the cup. Stir the vinegar without stopping. Do not hit the pill with your stir stick. Maintain the temperature in the cup at or near 98.6 degrees F. You might need to move the cup onto and off of the heat source to keep the temperature constant, advises ConsumerLab.com.
Step 3
Continue to stir for half an hour if you are testing an uncoated or thinly coated product. Stir for 45 minutes if you have a gelatin-coated or hard-coated pill. This process will not work for "time release" products or "sustained release" products. "Enteric-coated" products and chewable products will not break down via this test, either, advises ConsumerLab.com, as the chewables are meant to break down via chewing and the enteric products are meant to release ingredients farther down the digestive system.
Things You'll Need
- Coffee machine or hot plate
- Heat safe cup
- Thermometer
- Stir stick
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