Does swallowing semen break your fast, medically speaking?

December 24, 2012 4:04 AM

A question about oral sex and taking medication.

I'm asking this question from pure curiosity, really!

I am on a medication that is supposed to be taken on an empty stomach, half an hour before breakfast. Usually I take it with a cup of tea but when I mentioned this to my doctor she said this wasn't right. A sip of black tea is OK, but as soon as you add some milk or sugar it no longer counts as fasting.

This got me wondering: if somebody gave a blowjob and swallowed before taking their pill, would it count as taking it on an empty stomach? I'm guessing no, but I'm curious whether this has been addressed anywhere.

posted by daisyk to health & fitness (7 answers total)

Maybe it would help the pill go down. Definitely ask your doctor to be sure.
posted by oceanjesse at 5:13 AM on December 24, 2012

If the amount of milk one adds to tea can break a person's fast, seems to me that 5-10 mLs of cum would enough nutritive value (i can't believe i'm typing this) to have a similar effect.
posted by blue t-shirt at 5:27 AM on December 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

YWell, there's a lot of sugar in ejaculate, and a teaspoon is about 5-7 calories, and a teaspoon of 2% milk has about 3 calories, so I think it would break a fast.
posted by windykites at 6:03 AM on December 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

"Empty stomach" is sort of a vague term. Your stomach is never really entirely empty. There's always something in there, whether it be food that is being digested or bile, or whatever.

I can't believe that the small amount of semen that is produced from an orgasm would constitute such an affront to your digestive system that your medicine would not be absorbed.
posted by dfriedman at 6:31 AM on December 24, 2012

Most pills are made on a sugar or gelatin base, and thus contain calories to be digested all on their own... I can't imagine that just a few milliliters of either milk OR semen could make much more difference. I mean, if you're drinking a whole glass, that's different.

(A whole glass of milk!)
posted by mskyle at 7:00 AM on December 24, 2012 [8 favorites]

It depends on the pill. Some pills can't be taken with other pills, some pills can't be taken with calcium or aluminum, for example.
posted by gramcracker at 9:39 AM on December 24, 2012

The Straight Dope discussed the caloric content of semen many years ago. If I recall correctly, it's roughly as caloric as egg whites. Whether or not that breaks your fast depends on how uptight your doctor is, not if you spit or swallow.
posted by chairface at 8:49 AM on December 25, 2012 [1 favorite]