4 tips for making the medicine go down

Our ability to detect bitter and sour tastes has evolved in humans to protect us from poisoning and eating spoiled foods, scientists believe. The trouble is, bitterness is a key feature of many beneficial medicines. There are ways to make swallowing bitter medicine a little easier (see the 4 tips below).
The 'yuck factor' associated with many medicines is a particular problem for children. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), millions of child deaths could be avoided each year if essential medicines were available in palatable formulations for children.
Researchers from the University of Bradford, UK, are working on finding a solution by improving the taste of some of the most bitter tasting medicines, from both Western and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
"It is possible to reason with an older child and persuade them to take a medicine despite the taste," explains Dr Marcel de Matas from the research team.
"But with a six-month old baby, reasoning won't get you very far. Sweetness is much shorter-lived than bitterness, so even where a sweetener is used, you'll often get a nasty aftertaste. A young child will remember that the medicine tasted horrible, and will spit it out, refuse to swallow or simply refuse to take it at all,” he says.
The Bradford research team are focusing on the molecular activity at taste receptors. They are investigating two approaches. The first is to add a barrier to the medicine to prevent the bitter tasting molecules interacting with taste receptors in the mouth. The second is using molecules that bind to taste receptors in place of the medicine to prevent the taste being registered.
In the meantime, these 4 tips from the Huffington Post, Canada, may help to make the medicine go down.

1. Medicine at room temperature will tend to have a more intense flavour so storing your medicine in the fridge is a good way to help preserve it and to reduce the intensity of the taste.


2. Taste disguise: your pharmacist can often disguise the taste of medicine with flavouring. Also, try mixing the medicine with a small amount of yoghurt, applesauce or icecream.


3. Suck on an icecube or icechip before taking the medicine. This will numb your tastebuds, making it easier to swallow the medicine.


4. Taste bud saturator. Before taking the medicine, try chewing on some orange or lemon peel. This will saturate your tastebuds and make it more difficult to detect the bad taste of medicine.

 
Reference Sources
Reed D, Knaapila A. Genetics of Taste and Smell: Poisons and Pleasures. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2010; 94: 213–240.
University of Bradford. (2010, October 19). Fixing bad tasting infant drops when a 'spoonful of sugar' doesn't work. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 29, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101018074414.htm
Bad Medicine: How to take medicine that tastes gross. Huffington Post, Canada. Posted 11 June 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/11/06/bad-medicine_n_2083308.html