Drug And Food Interactions

Nutrition, drug food interaction

There are three important types of drug interactions: Drug-drug interactions occur when two or more drugs interact with each other. Interactions can occur with prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, and alternative medications such as supplements and herbal products.

Drug-food interactions occur when a drug interacts with something you eat or drink. Some examples of drug-food interactions include: Dairy products, such as milk, yogurt and cheese, can interfere with the absorption of antibiotics into the bloodstream. Mixing alcohol with some drugs is particularly dangerous. Alcohol interacts with most antidepressants and with other drugs that affect the brain. The combination can cause fatigue, dizziness, and slow reactions. A small amount of beer, wine, or liquor can increase your risk of stomach bleeding or liver damage when mixed with over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs and medications used to treat pain and fever. These drugs include asprin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen.

Drug-condition interactions may occur when a medication interacts with an existing health condition. Some examples of drug-condition interactions include: Decongestants found in many cough and cold preparations, can increase blood pressure and may be dangerous for people with hypertension. Eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice affects how your body processes certain medicines.

Interaction between medicine and food | Healthy Food and Living

In our body, drugs share the same route of absorption and metabolism as nutrients, which create the potential for interactions.

When food affects medicine

Foods can affect drug action in many ways. The most common is when foods interfere with absorption, which can make a drug less effective. For example, calcium in milk can bind to the antibiotic tetracycline, interfering with its absorption. Nutrients or other components of food can also interfere with a drug’s metabolism, or how it is broken down in the body. Finally, foods can affect the elimination of drugs from the body.

So some drugs should not be taken with food. Other drugs must be taken with foods to prevent stomach irritation.

When medicine affects nutrients

Some drugs interfere with the absorption of nutrients. For example, some cholesterol-lowering medications reduce the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. Others affect the body’s use or elimination of nutrients, like diuretics, which ca cause a depletion of potassium, and lead to a deficiency.

Dangerous interactions

The following are some of the more serious interactions that can occur between food and medicine:

MAO inhibitors and foods containing tyramine

  Mixing monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors-a class of medications used to treat depression-with foods high in tyramine produces one of the most dramatic and dangerous food-drug interactions. Symptoms include a rapid rise in blood pressure, severe headache, collapse, and even death. Foods high in tyramine include aged cheese, chicken liver, certain red wines, yeast extracts, processed meats, dried or pickled fish, legumes, soy sauce, and beer.

Grapefruit

  Grapefruit juice contains a compound that can increase the absorption of certain drugs, which can result in receiving a larger dose than was intended. This effect is not seen with other citrus fruit juices. Example of drugs that are affected include AIDS medications, cholesterol-lowering “statins” calcium channel blockers, antihypertension drugs, and cyclosporine, an immune system suppressant. As a general rule it is better to stay away from taking any medication with grapefruit juice. Since compounds in grapefruit juice can stay in the blood for 24 hours, effects may be noted even if the medication is not taken directly with the juice.

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