"Empty stomach" is kind of a nebulous term. For some things it means completely empty except for water, but for others it can mean just no food, especially protein, and no other supplements. I'll try to help a little.
Which DQ supplements do we need to take on an empty stomach?
LCF should be taken without food. But pure carb drinks like juice are okay if you like them and can drink them. If you can't do juice then just take with water.
This is because amino acids are essentially protein, and any food in the stomach could compete with their uptake. Food with LCF
might be okay, but I always take on empty stomach to ensure I get the good out of this kinda pricey supp. I generally take it first thing in the a.m. and get it out of the way for the day.
IME LCF is the only thing that absolutely needs to be taken on empty stomach. If others have a different experience, I hope they'll chime in.
BTW, there are minerals that you don't want to take together, because they can "cancel" each other out. Don't take copper and zinc at the same time, for example, because zinc can limit the absoprtion of copper. But that's kind of a different topic.
Do you need to take infusion (e.g. behind the lip) supplements on an empty stomach? (The vitamin goes straight to the bloodstream.)
No, if you're doing infusion it's fine to have food in the stomach or even to eat or drink "around" them (i.e., ingest food or drinks while they're still between your cheek and gum).
What constitutes an empty stomach? Two hours since food? Three? Four?
Generally speaking, one hour before eating or two hours after eating is considered empty stomach.
How long after taking the supplement can you eat?
I wait an hour before eating to be on the safe side, to ensure there's no competition for my empty stomach supp.
Does the empty stomach rule apply to drinks too? E.g. do I start the clock again after a mid-morning cup of tea?
Depends on what you put in your tea. If it's just a sweetener with no milk you should be fine with most supps except for maybe some minerals (because some constituents in tea can inhibit absorption of some minerals). But if you put milk or cream in your tea it's probably best to wait an hour before taking your supp. You can get away with waiting only an hour instead of two (like you want to with food) because liquid clears the stomach more quickly than bulky food.
How do grazers take supplements on an empty stomach? Our stomachs are only empty once a day.
It's hard. I try to limit things that need to be taken on empty stomach for this reason. It can run your life.
That said, don't get too hung up on empty stomach. Even if you don't get optimal benefit from taking stuff with food, except for amino acids you'll get some benefit. And some is better than none. And don't forget that whole food is always your best source of nutrition, anyway. For some of these supplements we're using like medicine (e.g., the DQ) we may need to make some allowances regarding the best place to get it is whole foods (especially in cases where mutations are expressed), but the best place to start for regaining your health *is* always with your food.
HTH.
