Grapefruit + Medication = A Recipe For Potentially Deadly Disaster

If you’re on some form of prescription medication, then the following post may well apply to you; so keep reading! 

A recent review published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal has highlighted a disturbing trend in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals which has caused the number of medications with the potential to interact with grapefruit and cause serious adverse effects to increase from 17 to 43 (between 2008 - 2012 alone). This figure represents an average increase of 6 new drugs per year.

How adverse is adverse, you ask? Observed effects include death, acute kidney failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, renal toxicity and other serious side-effects. Unfortunately, there remains a lack of knowledge about this interaction in the general health-care community. Thus, it is up to you to determine whether any of your current (or new) medications are known to interact with the popular dietary fruit.

There are more than 85 drugs that may interact with grapefruit including statins (simvastatin, atorvastatin, & lovastatin) as well as some heart & cancer medication and various antibiotics. So, remember to always check with your physician and pharmacist whether the drug being prescribed to you has any interactions you may need to be aware of, either with foods, supplements or other pharmaceuticals.

Reference:

Bailey, D. G., Dresser, G., & Arnold, M. O. (2012). Grapefruit-medication interactions: Forbidden fruit or avoidable consequences? CMAJ, doi: 10.1503/cmaj.120951.