You won’t believe: healthy foods that conflict with medicines – and can put you at risk

New Year’s resolutions are a great opportunity to start leading a healthier lifestyle, but when it comes to dietary changes, it’s important to be aware of the possible effects of food on the medications we take.

While maintaining a healthy, balanced diet can bring many benefits, there are foods that appear healthy but can create negative interactions with prescription drugs. These interactions can lead to serious health problems, so it is important to know the foods that can affect the action of the medicine and take precautions.

Grapefruit juice, cranberry juice and pomegranate juice are among the most popular healthy drinks, but they can cause serious health problems. There are common interactions between food and drink that you should know about to avoid health risks, for example:

Grapefruit juice
To break down some of the prescription drugs in the body, the liver uses enzymes called cytochrome P450. But grapefruit juice contains chemicals called piourocoumarins that can block the action of these enzymes, if this happens, some of the drugs may accumulate in the body.

On the list is cyclosporine, which is known as a drug used to prevent organ transplant rejection and manage symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and skin conditions such as psoriasis. Accumulation of cyclosporine can cause a variety of side effects, from mild sensitivity to kidney and liver damage.

Statins, which are often used to treat high cholesterol levels and prevent heart attacks and strokes, can also be affected by grapefruit juice by the same mechanism. Higher levels of statins in the body can increase the risk of side effects, including muscle breakdown, which is rare but serious.

Many other medications can also interact with grapefruit juice – including amlodipine (a common medication for high blood pressure). If you are taking any of these medications, it is recommended that you consult your doctor or pharmacist before drinking even small amounts of grapefruit juice, as it may be best to avoid it altogether.

Pomegranate juice and cranberry juice
Many fruits and fruit juices, especially those from the citrus family, can affect the breakdown of drugs in the liver. Pomegranate juice has also been shown to inhibit enzymes in the liver that break down the anticoagulant warfarin. This medication is used to prevent blood clots in people with an irregular heartbeat such as atrial fibrillation or deep vein thrombosis.

Some case reports suggest that pomegranate juice can increase the International Normalized Ratio (INR), the time it takes for blood to clot, in patients taking the drug warfarin, which may increase the risk of bleeding. Pomegranate juice can also affect other medications, such as tacrolimus, a drug to prevent organ transplant rejection.

Similarly, several cases indicate that cranberry juice may also affect warfarin. In one case, one patient died of bleeding after drinking cranberry juice for two weeks before taking warfarin.

However, the results of various studies are mixed – some show that cranberry juice affects warfarin in the body, while others show no effect. For this reason, it can be helpful to check your INR (blood clotting index) frequently if you drink these juices or to consider that any changes in your INR may be a result of fruit juices.

leafy vegetables
Spinach, broccoli and kale are often considered healthy foods because they are full of vitamins and minerals and contain few calories. But they are also rich in vitamin K, which is essential for activating certain clotting factors (proteins in the blood that help it clot).

Leafy greens can be a problem for patients taking the drug warfarin, which works by blocking vitamin K to prevent blood clotting. But eating foods rich in vitamin K can lower your INR and increase your risk of blood clots.

milk
Milk and dairy products such as cheese and yogurt are good sources of protein and calcium – a mineral necessary for healthy bones. But this food can affect the absorption of certain medicines in the intestines.

This includes antibiotics such as tetracyclines – broad-spectrum antibiotics designed for use against a variety of bacterial infections, and often used to treat acne and the skin disease rosacea. And ciprofloxacin – a broad-spectrum antibiotic from the quinolone family. It is used to treat various bacterial infections in adults such as urinary tract infection, prostate inflammation, intestinal inflammation, bone and joint inflammation and respiratory tract infection.

The calcium in the milk can bind to the antibiotic, which means it cannot spread through the blood. This means your body won’t get the full dose of the antibiotic – making it harder for it to fight the infection.

Other drugs affected by dairy products include al-thyroxine, a drug used for patients with low levels of thyroid function. But since these interactions occur in the intestines, dairy products can still be consumed even if a person is taking these medications. In most cases, you simply have to leave a break of at least two hours before or after taking the medicine before consuming dairy products.

Legumes
Legumes are considered a healthy food because they are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Legumes are also an excellent source of plant-based protein. But soy, peanuts and peas may be rich in tyramine. Tyramine is a substance found naturally in the body and in some foods, such as aged cheeses, smoked meats and fermented foods, and it can interact with the antidepressant phenelzine.

Phenelzine is an antidepressant from the monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) group, which is used less today. The drug blocks the enzymes that break down tyramine in the body. If patients eat foods rich in tyramine, this can lead to high levels of tyramine, which can lead to dangerous high blood pressure.