Contents:
- Medical Video: 10 Foods You Should Never Eat
- What are the consequences of drug and food interactions?
- What are the most common drug and food interactions?
- 1. Milk or dairy products with antibiotics
- 2. Grapefruit (red grapefruit) with several drugs
- 3. Green vegetables (vitamin K) with warfarin
- 4. Chocolate with monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI)
Medical Video: 10 Foods You Should Never Eat
Do you always read the instructions for using the drug before taking medicine? You should always do this. Why? Because so that drugs that enter your body can work well and do not cause any side effects. Medications can interact with other substances that enter your body, such as substances in food. This drug and food interaction can cause changes in how the drug works.
What are the consequences of drug and food interactions?
Some things that can be caused due to drug and food interactions are:
- Prevent drugs from working properly
- Change how your body uses food
- Causes drug side effects to get worse or even better
- Causes new side effects
What are the most common drug and food interactions?
Drugs and food cannot be separated. When taking medication you are usually required to eat first or afterwards. However, you must know drug and food interactions. The following are some common drug and food interactions.
1. Milk or dairy products with antibiotics
Milk or dairy products (such as cheese and yogurt) can prevent the absorption of some antibiotics, such as tetracycline and ciprofloxacin. Calcium in milk and milk products can bind antibiotics to the stomach and upper small intestine to form soluble compounds. Thus, absorption of antibiotics by the body can be disrupted.
To prevent this from happening, you are advised to take antibiotics one hour before or two hours after eating. You may not need to really avoid milk.
2. Grapefruit (red grapefruit) with several drugs
Red grapefruit can interact with several drugs. One of them is statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs). Red grapefruit can increase the amount of statin drugs in the blood, so that it can cause greater side effects.
Red grapefruit can also interact with calcium channel blockers (drugs for high blood pressure), such as felodipine, nicardipine, nisoldipine, amlodipine, diltiazem, and nifedipine. This orange can interfere with the breakdown of these drugs, so that it can actually cause blood pressure to be higher.
Several other types of drugs can also interact with this red grapefruit. Among them are antihistamines, thyroid replacement drugs, contraceptive drugs, gastric acid inhibitors, and dextromethorphan cough suppressant drugs. You are advised to avoid red grapefruit when taking these drugs.
Compounds called furanocoumarin in red grapefruit can change the characteristics of the drug. Thus, drug levels in the blood can be higher or lower and cause side effects.
3. Green vegetables (vitamin K) with warfarin
Warfarin is a blood thinning drug that can help prevent blood clots. This drug works by interfering with the vitamin K dependent blood clotting factor. So, eating green vegetables that contain high vitamin K can reduce the performance of this warfarin drug.
Some green vegetables that contain high vitamin K are spinach, kale, mustard greens, broccoli, asparagus, green radish, and Brussels sprouts. However, that does not mean you have to really avoid these vegetables. Instead, you must consistently consume these vegetables according to your daily eating habits. Sudden reduction or increase in intake of green vegetables outside your eating habits can actually cause problems.
4. Chocolate with monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI)
MAOI is a drug for treating depression and Parkinson's disease. This drug works by inhibiting the breakdown of the amino acid tyramine in the blood. Because the high tyramine amino acid in the blood can cause an increase in blood pressure. So, eating foods that contain high levels of tyramine, such as chocolate, can interfere with the work of this drug. Besides chocolate, another high-tyramine food is fermented meat, such as pepperoni, sausage and ham.
