According to several functional medicine specialists, that's one of the biggest misconceptions in digestive health.
A standard oregano softgel typically dissolves within minutes of reaching the stomach.
Once it does, its primary active compound, carvacrol, is released into stomach acid, an environment with a pH between roughly 1.5 and 3.5.
Which raises an uncomfortable question.
If the therapeutic compound is released there...
How much of it actually survives long enough to reach the small intestine, where it's supposed to be working?
For a growing number of practitioners investigating persistent digestive problems, that question has become far more important than how many milligrams appear on the front of the pouch.
Because if the delivery system fails, the ingredient itself may never have the opportunity to do the job people bought it for.
As one functional gut specialist put it:
"The milligrams on the label were real. They just never survived the journey."
That discovery sent us down a much bigger rabbit hole.
Why were so many people reporting little or no improvement after months of taking oregano oil?
Why did some products consistently outperform others, despite appearing almost identical on the label?
And why were specialists beginning to focus less on the ingredient itself... and more on whether it ever reached the gut intact?
