Why Shouldn't You Take Medicine with Grapefruit Juice?
If you've taken prescription medication, have you ever noticed the strange disclaimer, "don't take with grapefruit juice"? There is a very good reason for that!
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If you’re like me you probably tune out pharmaceutical commercials when they air on TV. But there’s one drug warning that stands out: “Don’t take this medication with grapefruit juice.” But what’s wrong with grapefruit juice? And what’s in grapefruit juice that isn’t in other citrus juices, like orange juice, the normal one? Grapefruit is full of a type of organic compound called furanocoumarin, which interferes with the activity of an enzyme in your small intestine called CYP3A4. Problem is, that interference means your body will absorb more of certain medicines, for things like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and anxiety, than it’s supposed to. This enzyme’s normal job is to chemically change certain potentially dangerous compounds before they can get to your ...
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If you’re like me you probably tune out pharmaceutical commercials when they air on TV. But there’s one drug warning that stands out: “Don’t take this medication with grapefruit juice.” But what’s wrong with grapefruit juice? And what’s in grapefruit juice that isn’t in other citrus juices, like orange juice, the normal one? Grapefruit is full of a type of organic compound called furanocoumarin, which interferes with the activity of an enzyme in your small intestine called CYP3A4. Problem is, that interference means your body will absorb more of certain medicines, for things like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and anxiety, than it’s supposed to. This enzyme’s normal job is to chemically change certain potentially dangerous compounds before they can get to your ...
