Contents:
- Medical Video: How the food you eat affects your brain - Mia Nacamulli
- Foods that most often cause interactions with drugs
- Various drug and food interactions that may occur
- 1. Warfarin, a blood thinning drug
- 2. Antidepressants
- 3. Antibiotics
- 4. Analgesic drugs
Medical Video: How the food you eat affects your brain - Mia Nacamulli
Are you currently taking drugs? If so, then there are some things that must be considered in order to support the success of the effects of the drugs you consume. In addition to paying attention to the doctor's recommendations regarding the medication schedule, what you should know is about drug interactions with the food you consume at the same time.
Many things can be discussed when talking about drug interactions with nutrients. The interaction relationship can be formed in two directions, namely the drugs that you consume affect the absorption of nutrients, and vice versa, the nutrients you get from food can inhibit or speed up the workings of the drug, even causing side effects due to interacting with drugs.
Just like food, medicines are also mostly consumed by mouth, must be digested through the digestive system and absorbed in the small intestine. Therefore, food and medicine often lead to interactions that have an impact on the absorption of drugs and food.
Foods that most often cause interactions with drugs
Grapefruit, or red grapefruit, is one food that has quite a lot of ability to influence the work of a drug. This type of drug can increase the work effectiveness of several types of drugs and reduce the absorption of other drugs, such as drugs to reduce cholesterol levels. Therefore if you have high cholesterol and then take the medication, it is better not to eat grapefruit first because it affects the work of the drug.
Grapefruit can also cause the metabolism of drugs to be disrupted, which can reduce or increase the level of drugs in the blood. Many drugs interact with the stomach and cause it to occur, such as antihistamines, high blood pressure drugs, drugs for thyroid disease, birth control pills, stomach ulcers, and cold and cough medicines. Therefore, you should avoid grapefruit first if you are taking drugs.
This happens because grapefruit contains a substance called furanocoumarins which works to block the work of these drugs. Thus, unfavorable interactions occur between the wines and the drugs mentioned earlier.
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Various drug and food interactions that may occur
1. Warfarin, a blood thinning drug
Green leafy vegetables such as spinach, mustard greens, broccoli or kale can actually affect the absorption of blood thinning drugs or warfarin and coumadin. The workings of blood thinning drugs are by reducing the amount of vitamin K in the body which functions as a blood clotting factor. However, green leafy vegetables are one of the main sources of vitamin K, so if you eat too much green leafy vegetables, it will increase vitamin K and prevent drugs from thinning blood.
Even so, don't worry because this condition will only occur if the consumption time is close and too much green leafy vegetables are consumed.
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2. Antidepressants
Drugs to deal with depression work by making normal neurotransmitter substances that are disrupted when experiencing high pressure. These neurotransmitter substances are monoamine oxiase inhibitors (MAOIs) which act as an introduction to signals between nerve cells and regulate one's mood.
Antidepressant drugs are known to have interactions with foods containing tyramine, namely drinks grapefruit, yogurt, banana and several types of processed foods. If the interaction occurs between the antidepressant and the drugs that have been mentioned, it will risk causing high blood pressure.
READ ALSO: Pros and Cons of Taking Antidepressant Medication
3. Antibiotics
Antibiotics are the most frequent and consumed by most people. And by way of a variety of gifts, namely by injection or through pills / capsules that can be drunk directly. But it should be noted that it turns out that foods that contain iron, calcium, and high magnesium can inhibit the work of antibiotic drugs.
Some studies have proven that milk can reduce antibiotic work in the body, for example ciprofloxacin and tetracycline antibiotics. Tetracycline can be taken one hour before or two hours after eating, and should not be accompanied by drinking milk. Iron and calcium contained in milk can bind to antibiotic drugs which make the absorption of the drug inhibited.
READ ALSO: 5 Facts About Antibiotics You Need to Know
4. Analgesic drugs
This type of medicine is a painkiller, so it is often used to eliminate various aches and fever. One of the most commonly used painkillers is acetaminophen. In some studies it was mentioned that acetaminophen must be consumed before eating because food in the stomach can inhibit the effectiveness of this drug. But for other types of drugs such as ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, and other painkillers, they should be taken after meals, because they can cause irritation to the stomach wall.
