Calcium supplements, for example, may decrease the absorption of dietary iron, which is why people at high risk for iron deficiency are encouraged to take calcium supplements at bedtime, instead of with meals. 'Most supplements have the exact same chemicals and ingredients as pharmaceutical drugs but simply in a naturally occurring form or lower dose,' she says.ĭrugs, of course, can have negative interactions with other drugs, and the same can be true of supplements. 'Often, people think that herbal supplements are benign and don't have interactions, and that's absolutely false,' says Christine Gerbstadt, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Dietary supplements (which also include vitamins, minerals and herbs) can likewise interfere with how some medications work. In December, a team at the University of Florida's Citrus Research and Education Center published a paper about ongoing efforts to create a grapefruit hybrid with significantly reduced interaction risk.Ĭoncerns about the interactions between foods and drugs are not limited to prescription medications. There's more attention than ever before being paid to reducing interactions between food and drugs, Derendorf says, and researchers are focused on finding safe alternatives, removing the chemical compounds that cause interactions, and in some cases, changing the genetic makeup of foods so that they do not interfere with medications. Derendorf was not involved in the Canadian review. It's been known for some time that grapefruit juice can 'both increase or decrease the absorption of a small number of drugs,' says Hartmut Derendorf, chairman of pharmaceutics at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. Even some licorice can reduce the effects of certain blood pressure drugs and diuretics.Ī recently published review in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that found an increasing number of prescription drugs could have potentially dangerous interactions with grapefruit and grapefruit juice highlights the importance of consumers being aware of possible food and drug interactions. And eating large quantities of chocolate while taking some antidepressants can cause a sharp rise in blood pressure. Milk and other calcium products, for example, can block the absorption of certain antibiotics.

But attention to medical labels, and not your taste buds, is needed when combining certain foods with medications.

Ask your physician and pharmacist what you should avoid when given a new prescriptionįrom milk and cookies to chocolate and peanut butter, some foods make a tasty combination.

Dietary supplements%2C including vitamins and herbs%2C can also interact with medications.

Food and beverages can delay%2C decrease or enhance absorption of medication.

Research is uncovering upsides of taking it for a variety of conditions, and we’ll likely see more to come, but it’s also on us to recognize that this is an unfolding story and proceed with caution. With so much fanfare, it’s easy to ignore the fact that CBD is a potent compound that's far from exhaustively understood. The market for CBD products is predicted to pass $22 billion over the next four years, and that's coming with the expected hurricane of fact-obscuring hype.

And it’s important to check with your doctor before taking CBD, especially if you’re taking other medications. But since the compound appears to exert similar effects as grapefruit, caution is needed.Īt a minimum, the evidence at this point suggests that grapefruit warnings on medications should also apply to CBD. One of the big problems with CBD at the moment is we don’t really know yet which drugs are affected the most, and it’s difficult to identify exact levels of risk because the research has a lot of catching up to do after decades of science-blocking illegality.

Drugs with a narrow “therapeutic window” (they must stay within a certain blood-concentration range) are especially susceptible. A high dose of a med could become a dangerously high dose, or even an overdose. The enzymes that both grapefruit and CBD inhibit are thought to break down a significant percentage of prescription and over-the-counter medications, so the potential for problems could be high.Ī low dose of a med could become a high dose if it’s not properly broken down and eliminated.

Grapefruit drug interactions