No one can avoid medications, that is for sure, since each and every one of us will need it at some point in our lives. With this said, since health is everyone’s primary concern, it is just right to know things asides from the medication itself.
Now, taking medications needs to be considered appropriately since one wrong move might further complicate your illness or develop a new health issue. This is why the discussion about food-drug interaction will take place in today’s article.
For additional information, if you want to know more about your medications, then you can visit sites like pharmaquotes.com for more knowledge. So, without further ado, let us discuss this food-drug interaction and what should you be wary about.
What is Food-Drug Interaction?
From the name itself, food-drug interaction is a development when your food and medicine interfere with each other. The interaction happens with both prescription and over-the-counter medicines, which include vitamins, antacids, and iron pills.
Although not all medicines are affected by the food, there are still some medicines that can be affected by what you eat or when you eat it, which might result in your body not absorbing the medicine properly.
With others, there may be certain foods that might decrease or delay the absorption of the drug. For instance, if you are taking an antibiotic drug for treatment, then you should not consume any dairy products with it. Thus, this is the reason why some medicines should or should not be taken on an empty stomach (depending on your doctor’s instruction).
Some medicines cannot be taken with some type of food since the food can cause a reaction which changes the effect of the medicine. Additionally, it can also create or heighten side effects.
However, on the other hand, there are also those medicines that are easier to handle when taken together with food since if you do not take them with food, you may feel dizzy or nauseous.
What Food Not to Take with Medicines?
The following interaction about food and drugs will be discussed below. Now, patients may not recognize that although there are healthy foods that are listed below, it still can have severe consequences when mixed together with certain drugs.
Calcium-Rich Food Against Antibiotic. Calcium-rich foods like dairy products such as yogurt, milk, and cheese interfere with certain medications like antibiotics. Tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, and doxycycline are one of the many antibiotics in which dairy products interfere with, during the treatment.
Both interfere with each other since antibiotics bind the calcium in milk, which then forms an insoluble substance in the stomach and at the upper small intestine which the body is unable to absorb.
Cured, Pickled, and Fermented Foods Against MAOIs. The food category of cured, pickled, and fermented foods contains tyramine, which is a compound produced by the tyrosine, which is a breakdown of this amino acid.
With this said, this food category, being that is consist of tyrosine, it has been associated with a dangerous increase in blood pressure among the patients that are taking MAOIs or Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors and other certain medicines as treatment for Parkinson’s disease.
Vitamin K Against Warfarin. This is a specified food-drug interaction and should be counseled to any patients by healthcare providers. This is because Vitamin K is essential in the production of clotting factors, which helps in the prevention of bleeding. However, anticoagulants like warfarin exert its effect by inhibiting vitamin K.
Thus, an increase in the intake of the said nutrient will antagonize the anticoagulant effect and prevent the drug from working.
Alcohol Against Prescription Stimulants. Alcohol, together with any medications is obviously not a good thing to do. Patients should always be cautious in mixing any medication with alcohol since it will not do good. However, there are really those interactions that can be far more serious.
For instance, if you ingest alcohol while taking a prescription stimulant, it might cause the patient not fully to realize how intoxicated he/she is. This is the truth, especially when the stimulant is being abused. However, it can also happen when the patient takes the drug as it is prescribed.
Grapefruit Against Statins. Statins and grapefruits should be avoided together, and patients should be cautious of doing so, whether it may be drinking or eating the said fruit while taking a statin medication.
It needs to be avoided since grapefruit have compounds that have furanocoumarin chemicals, which causes an increase in medication potency by interacting with the enzymes in the small intestine and liver. Specifically, this interaction partially inactivates several treatment medications under normal circumstances.
Takeaway
As healthcare service providers, medication experts, and pharmacists, they have the responsibility to clearly communicate the risk of possible food-drug interactions that might happen during an individual’s treatment medication for both prescription and OTC medicines.
This is why you also need to do your part, so ask and research about medications and its other possible complications.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
Thank you so much for the great article