Food and drug interactions

Here you will learn about common food and drug interactions. How ducks, geese, grapefruit, and other winter foods affect medications.

Interactions - How foods affect medications

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Have you ever wondered  whether ducks and geese have any effect on medicine? Or when eating acidic fruits and vegetables interact with medications? Learn more about food and drug interactions here. Even in hospitals or nursing homes, it must sometimes happen that interactions between medications and foods common in winter are not taken into sufficient consideration.

Don't underestimate food-drug interactions

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In the fall and winter months especially, many people want to be well equipped for the cold season. Citrus fruits, vitamin-rich vegetables and energy-providing nuts are on the menu. Christmas beckons with ducks, geese and other delights. However, these normally healthy foods can be dangerous for people who regularly take medications. For example, eating grapefruit, cabbage, and peanuts can lead to serious consequences.

Fruits and fruit juices do not have stomach acid suppressants

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It is not uncommon for a fatty meal to be followed by heartburn and acidic burps. So-called antacids are then swallowed to neutralize stomach acid. If possible, these medications should not be taken with citrate. Because many antacids contain aluminum salts. Together with citrate, the absorption of these salts increases. However, aluminum is not without controversy. The trace mineral is suspected to promote Alzheimer's disease and breast cancer. For safety reasons, we advise against taking aluminum-containing antacids such as mugliderate and sucralfate with citrate-containing drinks such as fruit juices or lemonade.

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Holiday meals can be impaired by monoamine oxidase inhibitors

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There must be something special on the table. Oysters, caviar or well-stored cheese for making cheese fondue are especially popular. Noble, long-ripened salami from the specialty house,  or marinated or pickled herring for the morning hangover, are holiday bestsellers. However, these foods are not always unproblematic. This is especially true for people who need to take monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are mainly used to treat depression, when other active ingredients are not sufficiently effective. However, monoamine oxidase inhibitors not only have an antidepressant effect, but also interfere with the breakdown of food. The mentioned foods contain abundant amounts of tyramine. Tyramine increases blood pressure and is metabolized by the enzyme monoamine oxidase, or MAO for short. However, MAO inhibitors inhibit this enzyme and thus impair the conversion and breakdown of tyramine. Homocysteine accumulates in the body and sometimes causes headaches and high blood pressure. Therefore, people who must take monoamine oxidase inhibitors should take care to consume as little tyramine-containing foods as possible.

Nuts interfere with the production of thyroid hormones

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Nuts are found in many snack dishes especially in winter. As a classic winter vegetable, cabbage often enriches the menu in the cold season. However, nuts and collard greens are not without problems for everyone. In particular, patients with hypothyroidism who take thyroid hormone should exercise caution. Unfortunately, many patients are not told either by doctors or at the pharmacy how invasive thyroxine therapy is. Often, mistakes are made due to ignorance, which greatly jeopardizes the success of treatment. Patients often cannot explain why their symptoms vary depending on the day. It is not uncommon for doctors to be puzzled that the TSH value does not decrease as hoped despite taking thyroid hormone regularly. In many of these cases, food is the cause. Therefore, there should be several hours between eating certain foods and taking thyroid hormone.

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Cabbage inhibits the production of thyroid hormones

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Above all, the thyroid gland needs iodine to produce thyroid hormones. Thioglycosides and cyanogenic glycosides affect iodine metabolism. Thioglycosides prevent the binding of iodine to protein tyrosine and thus prevent the conversion of iodine into thyroid hormones. As a result, the concentration of thyroid hormone increases insufficiently and not as desired. Thioglycosides are mainly found in cabbage, peanuts, mustard, radishes and radishes. Cyanogenic glycosides are broken down into sugar and cyanide (hydrogen cyanide) in the digestive system. Cyanide reduces the thyroid's uptake of iodine. This, in turn, reduces the production of thyroid hormones. Cyanogenic glycosides are found particularly in millet, flaxseeds, sprouts, and bitter almonds.

Soybeans reduce thyroid hormone concentrations

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Soy is also a problem if you have an underactive thyroid. These substances can bind thyroid hormone in the intestine and reduce the concentration of thyroid hormone in the blood. Thyroid hormones, already reduced, are excreted unused in the feces. Peaches, Lactose, and Psyllium Husks People with hypothyroidism often suffer from chronic constipation. To prevent this in a natural way, many patients turn to prunes, lactose, or psyllium husks. These tools increase intestinal activity and speed up intestinal transit. However, thyroid hormones such as thyroxine take some time to be absorbed from the digestive system. So they have to stay in the digestive system for a certain period of time. In case of accelerated bowel evacuation, parathyroid hormone will be excreted unused in the feces and the effect will be reduced. Therefore, the two-hour rule applies to softeners. Therefore, at least two hours must pass after taking the medication before taking laxatives.

No grapefruit when taking the medication

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The bitter furanocoumarin in grapefruit can strengthen or weaken the effects of a number of medications. In addition to oranges and tangerines, grapefruit enriches the menu in winter. Grapefruit, also called grapefruit, is healthy, low in calories, full of vitamins and minerals, has a sweet, sour and slightly bitter taste. So far everything is correct. But the ingredient responsible for the bitter taste contains it all. Furanocoumarins can affect the way medications work. Even half a grapefruit or one cup of grapefruit juice can significantly increase or weaken the effectiveness of medications or even render medications completely ineffective. And not just when taken at the same time. The interactive effect of grapefruit can last for several days. So most medical professionals recommend avoiding grapefruit and grapefruit preparations at all if you must take medication.

Enhanced effect through grapefruit

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Medicinal substances whose effects are enhanced by grapefruit include:

Immune system suppressants (immunosuppressants such as cyclosporine and tacrolimus)
Lipid-lowering medications (statins such as pravastatin and simvastatin)
Active ingredients for the treatment of vascular and heart diseases (calcium channel blockers such as nifedipine and lercandipine)
Agents used to treat erectile dysfunction (phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors such as sildenafil and tadalafil)
Active ingredients in cancer treatment (protein kinase inhibitors such as axitinib and sunitinib) Sleeping pills (benzodiazepines such as midazolam and triazolam)
Pacemaker agents (antiarrhythmics such as amiodarone and dronedarone).

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Reduces the effect of grapefruit

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Active ingredients whose effect is weakened by grapefruit in particular:

Aliskiren, an antihypertensive drug
Antihistamine Bilstein
Chemotherapy agents cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide.

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Milk is not suitable for taking medications

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Milk is not suitable for taking medicine with. This doesn't just apply to milk alone, milk-containing drinks like hot cocoa or lattes are also not suitable for taking medications. Milk and Antibiotics Milk contains calcium among other things. This mineral can form poorly soluble compounds in the digestive tract with some antibiotics. As a result, antibiotics can be poorly absorbed from the intestine into the body and the effect does not occur as desired. These antibiotics include in particular medicines containing the active ingredients ciprofloxacin, doxycycline and norfloxacin. Other antibiotics such as erythromycin and penicillin do not have this interaction, but it is still best to swallow them with water. Milk and bisphosphonates are active ingredients used particularly in diseases of bone metabolism. These include osteoporosis, bone metastases or Paget's disease. Well-known representatives of this class of active ingredients are alendronic acid, clodronic acid and risedronic acid. Complex compounds are formed when taken with milk, due to which the body can absorb bisphosphonates less easily. As a result, their effect is reduced. However, this does not only apply to milk and dairy products. Alternatively, all calcium-rich drinks (including mineral water) are not suitable for taking bisphosphonates.

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Green vegetables increase blood clotting

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Green vegetables are rich in vitamins and healthy. Many people expect a health-promoting effect and rely on lettuce and Co., especially in the cold season, however, this may be dangerous for people who take anticoagulants such as phenprocoumon and warfarin. The background to this is as follows: Green vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli and spinach contain a lot of vitamin K. Vitamin K is especially important for the formation of clotting factors needed to stop bleeding. Phenprocoumon and warfarin act as antagonists of vitamin K. They are supposed to prevent the formation of blood clotting factors and thus reduce the ability of the blood to clot. This prevents the risk of heart attacks and strokes caused by blood clots. People taking anticoagulants should avoid consuming large amounts of vegetables containing vitamin K and avoid fluctuations in vitamin K intake. However, you should not completely exclude green vegetables from your diet. If you suddenly stop eating lettuce and the like, the risk of unwanted bleeding may increase.