Grapefruit Should Be Avoided with Some Medications

Grapefruit is a wonderful fruit and has many positive features. It has been linked to helping people lose weight. It is abundant in vitamins and antioxidants and is rather tasty to many pallets.

However, it has also been a common belief that drinking a glass of grapefruit juice with medicine can help the body absorb it. Unfortunately, that is not true with all medications, and because of this fact, grapefruit and it’s juice should be avoided when taking medication unless approved by your doctor.

Recently, when reading an article on AOL Health, I saw a question from a reader about how their statin prescription told them to avoid grapefruit. The writer of the question was rather disappointed, since they enjoy grapefruit. Thankfully, their are options, one I am quoting from aol; “switch to a statin or other cholesterol-lowering agent that isn’t affected by grapefruit juice.” It is VITAL that if you are taking ANY prescription drugs that you check with your doctor on what is and what is not OK for you to eat and drink.

Also, according to CBS News, some of the drugs that interact with grapefruit are; Xanax, Buspar, Versed, Halcion, Luvox, Zoloft, Allegra, Cordarone, quinidine, Coumadin, Tegretol, Cyclophosphamide, etoposide, ifosfamide, tamoxifen, vinblastine, vincristine, Dextromethorphan (found in many over-the-counter cold medicines), Agenerase, Crixivan, Viracept, Norvir, Fortovase, Proscar, Coreg, Cardizem, Plendil, Cardene, Adalat, Procardia, Nimotop, Sular, Covera, Calan, Verelan, Viagra, Cialis, Theophylline, Lipitor, Lescol, Mevacor, Zocor, Alfenta, Duragesic, Actiq, Sufenta, Biaxin, Sporanox, erythromycin and troleandomycin. You will need to check with your doctor to be certain if your prescription is among those that should avoid grapefruit.

Bottom line: be safe and always stay informed.