Before you toss that gorgeous grapefruit into your grocery cart, think twice. Canadian researchers say that grapefruit plus some prescription medications can be deadly, or at least cause severe side effects.
Researchers from Ontario’s Lawson Health Research Institute first studied interactions between the fruit and certain prescription medications two decades ago. According to Medical News Today, the number of drugs known to cause heavy-duty side effects when combined with grapefruit has jumped from 17 to 43 between 2008 and 2012. A total of 85 drugs might have some type of interaction. Scientists attribute the big increase to new drugs and formulations.
The Mayo Clinic says in addition to grapefruit, other citrus foods like pomelos and Seville oranges can interfere with certain types of medications even when you ingest them at different times. The interaction occurs when chemicals in the food interfere with enzymes that metabolize certain drugs in the digestive tract. When the medication doesn’t break down properly, it can reach dangerous levels and cause serious side effects.
Among medications likely affected are some anti-anxiety, anti-arrhythmia, antidepressant, antihistamine, anti-retroviral, and anti-seizure drugs. Also on the list are calcium channel blockers, immunosupressants, and statins.
The Canadian researchers found that medications with potential interactions share a trio of traits: they’re administered orally; the enzyme CYP3A4 is tied to their metabolism in the gut; the amount of the medication that reaches the bloodstream unaltered is in the low to mid-range.
Among the most serious side effects are respiratory failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, and renal toxicity. Also possible are bone marrow suppression, acute kidney failure, and even death.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) offers tips for consumers who enjoy grapefruit products. Safety should start by asking a pharmacist or medical provider whether it’s all right to consume grapefruit products while taking a medication. If not, the FDA says it’s wise to also ask if other juices are allowable. Patients can also check the prescription‘s medication guide or sheet for a mention of grapefruit.
The agency suggests it’s prudent to read labels of non-prescription medications and check other juices in the home to see if they contain products made from grapefruit, Seville oranges, or tangelos.
I had to give away a gigantic pink grapefruit a few years ago. As a patient on the same drugs for Crohn’s disease for years, I had become lax about reading patient inserts. As I left my surgeon’s office, he wished me happy holidays, then cautioned me against consuming any alcohol, even in fruitcake, because of one medication. When I mentioned buying the pink grapefruit, he quickly told me it wasn’t allowed either.
The potential interaction from mixing grapefruit and some prescription medications should be a wake-up call for those of us who cavalierly toss product inserts, unread, as soon as we open a prescription.
Vonda J. Sines has published thousands of print and online health and medical articles. She specializes in diseases and other conditions that affect the quality of life.
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Researchers Warn: Don’t Mix Grapefruit, Some Prescriptions
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Researchers Warn: Don’t Mix Grapefruit, Some Prescriptions
