Should I take medicine with fruit juice?

Food and drink can affect the effectiveness of oral medication, but many people like to drink fruit juice to take medication, or after taking medication with water, they quickly eat a lot of fruit to get rid of the unpleasant aftertaste of the medication. It should be noted that many types of fruit juice have been proven to be harmful if taken with medication.

Oranges, tangerines, lemons

Everyone knows that oranges, tangerines, and lemons contain a lot of vitamin C, A, and many minerals that are very good for the body's development, help strengthen the immune system, and are good for the skin. However, they are completely unsuitable for people with diseases related to stomach pain, excess stomach acid, or heartburn.

Orange, tangerine, and lemon juice contain a lot of acid and should not be combined with antacids containing aluminum. If you eat oranges, tangerines, or drink their juice with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, diclofenac, etc.) to treat stomach pain, they will make the condition worse, causing stomach burns and increasing acid levels.

Orange and lemon juices are also contraindicated when used with antibiotics such as ampicillin, erythromycin, lincomycin... because these antibiotics will be damaged due to their instability in an acidic environment. Combining citrus fruit juices with cough medicine dextromethorphan can increase the risk of side effects, causing hallucinations and drowsiness. The effects of these fruits on dextromethorphan can last for a day or longer, so it is best not to eat them while taking dextromethorphan.

Orange and lemon juice are contraindicated when taken with antibiotics.

Banana

Bananas contain high levels of potassium so they should not be used with potassium-sparing diuretics (spironolactone, triamterene, amiloride...). Because using these two together will increase the accumulation of potassium in the body, which can cause cardiovascular and blood pressure complications.

Grape juice

Using grape juice to take medicine can reduce the effectiveness and increase the side effects of the medicine. This is explained by the fact that grape juice can inhibit enzymes in the absorption process of medicine, such as cardiovascular medicine and antifungal medicine (nistatin, fluconazole...).

Apple juice

Avoid apple and orange juices within 4 hours before and after taking the antihistamine fexofenadine to relieve allergy symptoms. These juices inhibit peptides (proteins with short chains of about two to a few dozen amino acids linked together) that transport drugs from the intestines into the blood. Combining these juices with the antihistamine fexofenadine reduces the drug's effectiveness in stopping sneezing and runny nose by up to 70%. Other drugs are also transported with the help of peptides, so avoid drinking these juices when taking antihistamines, thyroid medications containing levothyroxine, or allergy and asthma medications containing montelukast sodium.

Grapefruit juice

Grapefruit juice has the most serious effect on the effectiveness of oral medications. Grapefruit juice increases the absorption of too much medication into the blood, which can be dangerous. Do not eat grapefruit when taking the following medications:

Cholesterol-lowering drugs: If you are taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, you should not eat grapefruit, because it will cause a large amount of the drug to remain in the body, not working effectively, leading to liver damage and muscle weakness. Grapefruit juice when taken with simvastatin or atorvastatin can increase the absorption of the drug by 15 times and cause serious side effects in the muscles.

Immunosuppressants used to prevent transplant rejection (tacrolimus, ciclosporine...): When used regularly with grapefruit juice, they can be toxic to the kidneys.

Sedatives and sleeping pills: When used with this group of drugs, eating grapefruit will cause dizziness.

Note: Eating or drinking grapefruit juice 2 hours before or after taking medication can still be harmful, so it is best to avoid eating this fruit while taking the above medications.

Vegetables rich in vitamin K

You should not eat vegetables rich in vitamin K such as green cabbage, dark green vegetables, avocado, lettuce, etc. while taking anticoagulants (phenylindadione, clophenindione, coumetarol, etc.). These foods will reduce the therapeutic effect of the drug because of the increased risk of thrombosis (blood clots in the blood vessels).

Advice for drug users

To increase the effectiveness of medication, people need to note: Boiled water that has cooled or clean filtered water is the best type of water to use for taking medication. Taking medication with this type of water with enough water will help the pill (tablet or capsule) from the mouth to the stomach quickly, disintegrate and dissolve to create a drug solution, then flow down to the intestines where the drug will be absorbed into the blood for therapeutic effect. Bottled water can be used, but it must be purified water and should not be used with mineral water (also known as spring water) to take medication, because minerals such as calcium, sodium... can be incompatible and harmful to the drug.

Types of drinks that should not be used with medicine: milk, fruit juice, tea, coke, coffee, alcohol... all interact with medicine, affecting treatment effectiveness, even causing harm.