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The 24-Hour Pharmacist
For more information, or to submit your own health question visit Suzy Cohen’s website:
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Past Dear Pharmacist
- Dear Pharmacist August 28, 2010 10 Tips for Back to School Cough & Cold
- Dear Pharmacist August 21, 2010, Bitter Orange Improves Weight Loss
- Dear Pharmacist August 14, 2010, Minimizing Candida Die-Off Reactions
- Dear Pharmacist August 7, 2010 Candida Treatments and Tests
- Dear Pharmacist, July 31, 2010 Candida Yeast Can Hurt You
- Dear Pharmacist, July 24, 2010 Natural Protection for Nerve Pain
- Dear Pharmacist, July 17, 2010
Some Medications Scare Me - Dear Pharmacist July 10, 2010 FDA Requires Me to Tiptoe Through My Two Lips
- Dear Pharmacist July 3, 2010 Relieve Sore, Achy Muscles Fast
- Dear Pharmacist, June 26, 2010 The Goods on Grapefruit and Medications that Won’t Mix
- Dear Pharmacist, June 19, 2010 Calcium D-glucarate: A Novel Way to Eliminate Toxins
- Dear Pharmacist June 12, 2010 Tiny Seeds Offer Gigantic Protection to Men and Women
- Dear Pharmacist June 5, 2010 toenail fungus
- Dear Pharmacist, May 22, 2010 Hot Springs Are the Fountain of Youth
- Dear Pharmacist, May 15, 2010 How Drug Muggers Can Slowly Steal the Life Out of You
- Dear Pharmacist, May 8, 2010 Micronutrient Testing: Find Out if You Are Deficient in Vitamins & Minerals
- Dear Pharmacist, May 1, 2010 New Discovery: Liberation Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis
- Dear Pharmacist, April 24, 2010 Your Tongue Tells a Story
- Dear Pharmacist, April 17, 2010 When You Lower Cholesterol, You Lower Sex Drive Too
- Dear Pharmacist, April 3, 2010 How to Curb Cravings for Alcohol and Drugs
Dear Pharmacist, June 26, 2010
The Goods on Grapefruit and Medications that Won’t Mix
Dear Pharmacist,
My medication label suddenly warns not to eat grapefruit, but is this a serious interaction? Reason I ask is because I love to eat it, and nothing has happened to me so far. --K.A., Tulsa, Oklahoma
Answer: Then stay consistent with your eating habits because consistency allows your doctor to adjust medication dose based on eating habits. Momentarily, I’ll tell how this incredible fruit can help you lower cholesterol, burn fat and reduce cancer risk, but first I I must warn you that grapefruit prevents proper break down of some medications, causing blood levels to spike. This may happen even if you separate administration of the drug from the fruit or the juice by days. Soon enough, I will give you a list of drugs to avoid if you won’t give up the grapefruit. I wouldn’t blame you either, I love grapefruit myself. The seeds are the primary source of naringenin, which is the bitter chemical that causes the pucker. It’s also a strong antioxidant that not only neutralizes free-radicals (which promote cancer) but also seems to prevent hardening of the arteries.
Grapefruit may boost metabolism, at least in rodents. Thin rats don’t necessarily translate to thin thighs, although I still think grapefruit is a fine edition to most diet plans, especially those that include ways to help you improve progesterone to estrogen ratio, and increase thyroid hormone. Grapefruit may help people with diabetes or metabolic syndrome (high cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar).
Naringenin is not an appetite suppressant, or a fat blocker so if you take those dietary supplements, it’s also fine to take this bioflavonoid supplement. It can be combined with protein supplements too, which are often recommended during weight loss.
You’ll see it listed in various ways, including naringenin, grapefruit seed extract, GSE or part of a comprehensive bioflavonoid formula that also contains hesperidin, rutin or quercetin. These types of products are widely available at health food stores.
Before you get too excited and buy supplements or fresh fruit at the grocery store, I need you to promise me that you’ll get both your physician and pharmacist’s approval (and it wouldn’t hurt to research yourself) to find out if grapefruit, or grapefruit-containing supplements are right for you.
The approval from both your doctor and pharmacist is important because I don’t have the space to list all of the drugs that might potentially interact. The following drugs (and possibly related drugs that are not listed here) may have a potentially dangerous interaction with grapefruit, so never combine it with these: Sildenafil (Viagra), buspirone (Buspar), sertraline (Zoloft), triazolam (Halcion), diazepam (Valium), carbamazepine (Tegretol), cyclosporine, tacrolimus, felodipine, nifedipine, HIV medications, statins cholesterol drugs (simvastatin, atorvastatin, lovastatin), amiodarone, methadone, digoxin and losartan (Cozaar).
Did You Know?
Zyclara cream is now FDA approved and available to people who suffer with pre-cancerous spots on their face or scalp called actinic keratoses.
