Beware Of Eating Grapefruit With Any Of These 32 Common Drugs

BI ^ | 3-20-2017 | Dr. Matthew Thorpe, MD, PhD, Authority Nutrition

[blam]

Note: This article contains general information — not specific medical advice. Talk to your physician before changing your use of any medication.

Grapefruit is a delicious citrus fruit with many health benefits.

However, it can interact with some common medications, altering their effects on your body.

If you're curious about the grapefruit warning on many medicines, this article will help you understand why it's there and what your options are.

Here's a closer look at 32 common drugs that may have dangerous interactions with grapefruit.

How does it interact with medications?

How does it interact with medications?

Medications are processed in your liver and small intestine by a specialized group of proteins called cytochrome P450 (CYPs).

CYPs break down medications, reducing the blood levels of many of them.

Grapefruit and a few of its close relatives, such as Seville oranges, tangelos, pomelos and Minneolas, contain a class of chemicals called furanocoumarins.

Furanocoumarins disrupt the normal function of CYPs. In fact, studies show that they increase the blood levels of over 85 medications (1).

By slowing down the way in which CYPs normally break down medications in your gut and liver, grapefruit can increase the side effects of these drugs (1).

There are three things to know in order to understand if and how you can safely consume grapefruit with these medications.

1. It doesn’t take much: One whole grapefruit or one glass of grapefruit juice is enough to alter how these medications affect you.

2. It lasts several days: Grapefruit’s ability to affect medication lasts for 1–3 days. Taking your medication a few hours apart from consuming it isn’t long enough.

3. It’s significant: For a small number of drugs, grapefruit’s effects can be serious.

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[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Then you did not talk to your pharmacist or read the information enclosed or on the bottle. Because it is there.

[Hat-Trick]

Ah HA! Mystery solved. The guys with the 4 hour erections from Tadalafil (Cialis) must’ve been eating too much grapefruit.

[Yaelle]

So eating grapefruit makes your oxy high better? Maybe we should start handing out grapefruits to addict panhandlers.

[Yaelle]

Re Cialis: How can you eat grapefruit while in your separate outdoor bathtubs? Where do you place the grapefruit knife and grapefruit spoon?

[MurrietaMadman]

Your right about not reading the small print. Call me a spoiled brat but I expect a verbal heads up when something as every day possible as consuming grapefruit or grapefruit juice or any of the other fruits that can interact so negatively with a bad actor drug like oxycodone.

The pertinent information was not included on the bottle label.

As for talking to the pharmacist, where do you live? Planet Mayberry? Who waits around to talk with a $$$busy$$$ pharmacist anymore? You haven’t noticed the human barriers the medical mafia has been putting in place between them and the patient over the last couple of years? Or are they who you meant when you said I did not talk to my pharmacist?

People have pharmacists now?

[Hat-Trick]

Good point and a pro tip to never take Cialis and use a grapefruit knife in the bathtub at the same time. Accidents happen. ;-)