Why shouldn't you eat grapefruit when taking statins?
Why shouldn't you eat grapefruit when taking statins?
After taking statins, they are absorbed into the bloodstream through the digestive tract and then broken down, detoxified and eliminated from the body in the liver or kidneys.
If for some reason the breakdown and metabolism of statins is affected, accumulation in the body can occur, leading to high concentrations of the drug in the body, which significantly increases the risk of side effects (e.g. liver damage, muscle damage, etc.).
Some statins (such as simvastatin and atorvastatin) are broken down and metabolized in the liver, a process that requires the involvement of an enzyme, cytochrome P450 3A4. If the activity of this enzyme is inhibited, the statin is not broken down in a timely and efficient manner and can accumulate in the body, increasing the risk of adverse effects.
Grapefruit (mainly grapefruit) contains chemicals such as naringin and furanocoumarin, which significantly inhibit the activity of cytochrome P450 3A4, thus affecting the catabolism of the aforementioned statins. If you eat a lot of grapefruit during the course of taking atorvastatin or simvastatin, you may significantly increase the concentration of statin in your body, thus making you more susceptible to various side effects.
That's why it's best to avoid grapefruit, or even any other grapefruit for that matter, when taking statin.
Statin is not only a lipid regulating drug, but also a basic drug for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
The safety of statin has always been our main concern.
Can you eat grapefruit on statin or not?
The furanocoumarins contained in grapefruit, especially grapefruit, can lead to increased blood levels of atorvastatin in the body, leading to drug safety issues or an increased risk of side effects.
Not all statins, in fact, have this danger, simvastatin, lovastatin, atorvastatin do, but statins like fluvastatin, pravastatin, pitavastatin, resuvastatin, etc., are not affected by grapefruit.
The instructions for atorvastatin state that especially when large amounts of grapefruit juice are consumed (more than 1.2 liters per day)", 1.2 liters, who among us can drink that much grapefruit juice in a day?
That is, the theoretical danger that exists, but in practice we rarely drink that much grapefruit juice.
Although there is debate, to be safe, if you like grapefruit fruit and are also taking a statin, try to choose a statin such as fluvastatin, pravastatin, pitavastatin, or resuvastatin.
Or, if you're on statin, simply don't eat grapefruit.
Nutritionist Sugar to answer this question, there are high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high blood fat people must be more familiar with statin drugs, statins are regulating blood lipids, preventing atherosclerosis drugs.
So why is it that you should not eat grapefruit on statin medications? This is because grapefruit contains an active ingredient that can interfere with the normal metabolism of many medications and cause adverse reactions. Not only statin drugs, but also hypoglycemic drugs, antihypertensive drugs, etc., it is best not to touch grapefruit when taking medication. Of course, this does not mean that people who take statin drugs or take medication absolutely can not eat grapefruit, just do not eat when taking medication. And at other times, such as taking medication has been over two or three hours, you can still eat some grapefruit.
Pomelo is a low sugar and low calorie fruit, which is more suitable for people with three high symptoms. Pomelo's glycemic rate is relatively slow, which is rich in chromium is beneficial for lowering blood sugar, pectin in pomelo can regulate blood lipid levels, and hesperidin in pomelo can protect blood vessels and prevent cerebral hemorrhage. Pomelo is also rich in vitamin C, carotene, vitamin B2 and minerals such as calcium, iron and phosphorus. Diabetes, high blood pressure people can eat pomelo, daily consumption of 1-2 petals can be. However, this group of people should pay attention to, grapefruit can not be eaten in large quantities, not more than 200 grams of daily consumption is appropriate.
I hope this answer helps, remember to like it!
Everyone's favorite fruit, pomelo, is on the market, but did you know that you should be careful if you are taking certain medications? It's not just certain statins, but what other medications can't be taken at the same time as grapefruit? What's the reason behind it? Let's find out!
The role of grapefruit
According to Chinese medicine, pomelo is sweet, acidic and cold in nature, which is good for stomach and food, lowering gas and eliminating phlegm, and lightening the body and pleasing the color. Modern medical research has found that pomelo meat is very rich in vitamin C and insulin-like components, so there are lowering blood sugar, lowering blood lipids, weight loss, skin care and other effects. Regular consumption, hypertension, diabetes, vascular sclerosis and other diseases have auxiliary therapeutic effects on obese people have health and beauty functions.
Pomelo also has stomach, lung, blood, intestinal, diuretic effect, can promote wound healing, sepsis and other good auxiliary efficacy. In addition, pomelo contains physiologically active substances piroside, can reduce the viscosity of the blood, reduce the formation of blood clots, so on the cerebrovascular disease, such as cerebral thrombosis, stroke, etc. also has a good preventive effect. And fresh pomelo meat because it contains insulin-like components, is the ideal food for diabetics.
It does seem that grapefruit is a good fruit!
Grapefruit and Drugs
Many drugs need to be metabolized in the liver, and in the process of processing various drugs in the liver, a number of enzymes are often required, the most commonly used of which is "cytochrome P450 3A4". The most commonly used enzyme is "cytochrome P450 3A4". When the activity of this enzyme is strong, the drug can be metabolized easily, while when the activity is weak, the drug will be metabolized slowly.
Grapefruit contains chemicals such as grapefruit glycosides and furanocoumarins, which significantly inhibit the activity of cytochrome P450 3A4, thereby interfering with the action of the drug.
Of cardiovascular drugs.antihyperlipidemic drugBoth simvastatin and atorvastatin are metabolized by cytochrome P450 3A4.
Increased blood levels of statin may increase the risk of hepatic or muscular adverse reactions (i.e., increase the hepatic or muscular toxic effects of the drug).
antihypertensive drugFelodipine and nifedipine are also metabolized by this pathway, so the activity of cytochrome P4503A4 in the body causes a significant increase in the concentration of these drugs in the blood.
Increased concentrations of nifedipine or felodipine potentiate their antihypertensive effects and may even induce severe hypotension.
warfarin (loanword)metabolism is also affected by this P450 3A4.
I'll tell you one more fact.
Grapefruit is more potent than pomelo, and you have to be more careful while taking medication!
Is there a problem with eating at the wrong time of day?
The tasty food is not off limits. Please note: In most cases it is still relatively okay to eat grapefruit before or 6 hours after taking medications. Patients who are sensitive to medications should avoid or minimize the intake of grapefruit juice or fresh grapefruit while taking these medications.
summarize
Be careful with these drugs (cardiovascular related)
Lipid-lowering drugs: atorvastatin, simvastatin, lovastatin, Lipitor;
Antihypertensive drugs: nifedipine, felodipine, nimodipine, nisoldipine;
Stabilizers: Sulodexide, Glaudine;
Others: Amiodarone, Hopitalol, Hoppexol, Verapamil, immunosuppressants such as cyclosporine, tacrolimus, etc.
Warfarin: Be careful, this INR increase is no fun!
(Image from the web)
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First, let's talk about grapefruit.
Pomelo is a fruit that is rich in sugar, vitamins B1, B2, C, carotene, and potassium, calcium, phosphorus and other components, it contains the natural potassium of hypertensive patients, which for the large amount of vitamin C contained in a cholesterol-lowering effect, and fresh pomelo flesh contains insulin-like active substances, can reduce blood sugar, contained in the physiologically active substances of pioguanoside, which can reduce blood The physiologically active substances contained in the skin glycosides can reduce blood viscosity, thereby reducing the formation of blood clots, cerebrovascular diseases such as cerebral thrombosis, stroke, etc. have a better preventive effect. In addition, pomelo also has stomach, moisten the lungs, blood, intestinal, diuretic, promote wound healing and other effects, as a fruit, it is undoubtedly high blood pressure, high blood lipids, high blood sugar patients with one of the ideal fruits, not only has a rich nutritional value, but also has the health care role of disease prevention and treatment.
For patients with hyperlipidemia, they often need to use lipid-regulating drugs, and statins are commonly used in clinical lipid-regulating drugs, which are metabolized by hepatic enzymes. Research has found that grapefruit contains one or more active substances, which can inhibit the activity of hepatic enzymes, which can inhibit some of the drugs that rely on hepatic enzyme metabolism, so that its metabolism is slowed down, the concentration of blood, which will lead to overdose of the drug or cause an increase in the number of toxic side effects. The specific grapefruit and statin drugs used together, will greatly increase the statin drugs triggered myopathy adverse reactions, causing muscle soreness, severe rhabdomyolysis.
Therefore, for patients with hyperlipidemia must pay special attention to the fact that despite the cholesterol-lowering effect of grapefruit, it also increases the adverse effects of statins, so for safety reasons, the two should not be consumed at the same time, and you can consider consuming them at an interval of 4 hours, but of course it is best not to use grapefruit during the administration of medication is the best. If you want to eat, it is recommended to stagger the time of consumption, and the amount of grapefruit consumption should not be too large.
The above is only a personal opinion, not as a basis for the use of medication, please use the medication under the guidance of a physician, any questions or views are welcome to leave a comment at the bottom of the article.
The authoritative interpretation of Pharmaceutical Affairs, unauthorized reproduction, plagiarism will be punished.
[Professional doctor to answer your questions
The main purpose of taking statin lipid-lowering drugs is to inhibit the liver synthesis of low-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein is the fat into the endothelium of the blood vessel transport vehicle, reduce the level of low-density lipoprotein can be effective in preventing the occurrence of atherosclerosis, and can reduce the inflammatory reaction of the endothelial deposits of fat in the blood vessel to stabilize the plaque does not rupture to avoid the formation of blood clots.
Statin lipid-lowering drugs occur these effects and metabolism process in the body, the need for cytochrome P4503A4 enzyme participation, in order to ensure that statin lipid-lowering drugs decomposition metabolized out of the body. And grapefruit (mainly grapefruit this variety) contains a large number of grapefruit glycosides and furan coumarin, etc., there is a strong inhibition of cytochrome P4503A4 enzyme activity, so that statins can not be metabolized out of the body and accumulation in the body, increase the damage to the liver and other injuries, aggravate the adverse effects of the occurrence of this is the taking of statin-lipid-lowering drugs can not eat grapefruit reasons.
In addition to grapefruit, with its genus of other species of grapefruit, including tangerines, oranges, etc. also contains a small amount of naringin and furanocoumarin and other substances, a small amount of eating usually does not significantly affect the breakdown of statin lipid-lowering drugs metabolism, but must pay attention to can not be eaten more than one, eat with the taking of statins to lower the lipid-lowering drugs for more than four hours between the time of the existence of liver damage, do not eat.
Come see what a grapefruit looks like!

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