When Foods and Pills Clash

rcatr

From yesterday's WSJ...

I know not everyone is the biggest Wall Street Journal fan, but for those who subscribe, here's the link...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704256304575320743052254682.html?KEYWORDS=food+and+pills+clash

if you don't subscribe, you might not be able to see the article, so here are some of the highlights...

As a caveat...and I know this happens anytime someone posts an article or something in an article, I'm not saying I believe this is true or that you should believe it...I'm just saying this was interesting....

"Americans increasingly view the food they eat as medicine to help lower cholesterol, reduce high blood pressure and control blood sugar. But as with prescribed drugs, the health-improving qualities of foods such as olive oil, nuts and fruit can interact with other medications, causing possible problems.

Pharmacists often warn people not to mix anti-cholesterol drugs known as statins with grapefruit juice. Newer research suggests that other fruit juices, including cranberry and pomegranate, as well as olive oil may also interfere with how statins work in the body. Other laboratory studies show that certain popular teas can block the effect of some medications, including the flu drug Tamiflu. And switching to a low-fat diet, itself a healthy lifestyle change, could reduce the potency of some medications.

Diet can interact with medicine in two main ways. Some foods block the body's ability to absorb certain medications, effectively reducing the dose a person receives. Other foods enhance the absorption of some drugs, which can lead to a possible overdose.

In general, diet will only interact with medications when a person is consuming exceptionally large portions of certain foods, pharmacology and medical experts say. A few teaspoons of olive oil on pasta typically doesn't pose any problems, for instance.

Grapefruit is one of the most extensively studied foods for its impact on medication. Compounds in the fruit can increase the potency of statins and other medications to potentially dangerous levels by inhibiting cytochrome P450, a family of enzymes that break down the drug. Research indicates that drinking just one eight-ounce cup of grapefruit juice a day increases the strength of the drug.

Recently, animal and laboratory studies have suggested that other fruits, including pomegranates, oranges (especially those from Seville), cranberries, grapes and black mulberries, could have a similar, although less robust, effect on statins in the body. Pomegranates and cranberries are frequently touted as healthy foods because of their high quantities of antioxidants, which supposedly remove free radicals from the body and slow the onset of disease and aging."


Foods that Enhance a Drugs Effect:
Cranberry (Lipitor)
Grapefruit (Lipitor)
Pomegranate (Lipitor)
Meat (Hyper tension meds)
Fatty Fish - omega 3 fatty acids (Clopidogrel)
Porter Beer (Tamoxifen - cancer drug)
Chocolate (Antidepressants, Ritalin, Ambien)
Black Pepper (Allegra)
Black Tea (Potentially all drugs)

Foods that Can Decrease Drug Effects
Leafy Greens (Warfarin - blood thinner)
Ginger and Chai Hu (Tamiflu)
Licorice (Hypertension meds)
Milk (Cyproflaxin)

nikhil_c8

Intresting Post...Thx for sharing