Did you know Grapefruits are dangerous if you take some medicines?

@JenInTN (27514)
United States
April 4, 2009 5:05am CST
I was reading this article about grapefruits and juice causing interactions with certain medications. I'm not much of the grapefruit eater but have eaten them because of their fat burning abilities when I was younger. I would have never thought they could cause such havoc within the body..interracting with medications. The thing is that the medicines it interacts with are very very common medicines. The article below has a list of these medicines and explains the side effects..please read! Have you ever heard this before? www.holisticonline.com/Herbal-Med/_Herbs/h_grapefruit.htm
9 people like this
27 responses
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
4 Apr 09
good morning, another early bird. lol. yes, i knew that because i'm not suppose to eat them w/someof my meds. i love grapefruit. my neighbor bought some from a peddler other day that comes through every year. i use to buy from him myself when i had the store. she gave me 3 of them & they were soooooooo good. i couldn't resist them. i have never understood why they do that. hope u have a good weekend. jo
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
4 Apr 09
Good morning! Yes indeed it's early..lol..My job has me in the habit of rising with the sun. I had no idea about the grapefruit thing. Is your friend liking myLot?
1 person likes this
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
4 Apr 09
i think she is but don't think she'll ever get as addicted as i am to it. she likes facebook i think more. i don't care a whole lot about facebook. are u on facebook?
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
4 Apr 09
No..I haven't tried it. I do have an old myspace account but I barely visit it. I'm defiantely more in to myLot..lol..I'll have to check facebook out though. There are a lot of people I know that talk about it. Is it like myspace?
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@csrobins (1120)
• United States
6 Apr 09
I have heard that; a few of my friends have been told by the doctor not to drink grapefruit juice or eat them because of thier medication. One frined is on a birth control one and one friend is on an antidepressant one-niether of those medications though I found on the list which is kind of alarming. I just wonder why grapefruits? Other fruits are very similar and have never been names like oranges and other citrus fruits.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
6 Apr 09
I'm not sure why just grapefruits. I think there are certain things that are best not taken with oranges too. If you get a chance to research it..let us all know what you find out.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
8 Apr 09
Wow! thanks for the links and research! We can never be to educated about these things!
@csrobins (1120)
• United States
7 Apr 09
Apparently it's a pretty big deal. Bitter citrus fruits contain a higher acidic concentrate than those that are sweet like strawberies, pineapples, etc. But some oranged do contain a high enough concentrate to have the same affects as grapefruits. Some of the types of oranges which are also dangerous are ones that are used to make marmalade. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nutrition/AN00413 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit_juice
@cupid74 (11388)
• Pakistan
4 Apr 09
Hi Jenn hope u must be doing well well grapefruit is considered a good fruit to burn ur fats, to metaboloise ur stomach and other body Functions but never know about it now i will read it and sprtead it to friends Take care
1 person likes this
@cupid74 (11388)
• Pakistan
4 Apr 09
Thanks for sharing all this to Me and to others So i am sure u must be very careful about eating fruits
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
4 Apr 09
You to cupid. Some medicines have labels that warn you about the way it acts with the grapefruit. I would have never thought it would though. Thanks.
@tjades (3591)
• Jamaica
5 Apr 09
I do not take medicines regularly at all but it is good to be informed. Many times it is the lack of little vital informations such as this which cause lives. I dont particularly like grapefruits and really ony eat it if it is very sweet. My mom loves them much more and she is not on any form of medications either.
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
5 Apr 09
Hi tjades! I don't take anything either. I think that may be one of the reasons I didn't know about this before. If I was suddenly prescribed something..I wouldn't have thought a fruit would interract with it. Thanks for the response.
@mentalward (14691)
• United States
5 Apr 09
Awesome! None of my medications are on either list! Although I'm not a big fan of grapefruit, I do like an occasional one. What confuses me is that they say to not take certain medications WITH grapefruit or grapefruit juice. I've always thought that you could eat grapefruit, but only hours before or after taking your meds. Whether this affects the medication levels or not I still don't know. I'm a fan of holistic and alternative medicines and would love to be completely free of prescription meds one day so I could safely consume all the grapefruit I'd like because of it's cancer-fighting properties. That is a great site for learning more about natural healing... thanks so much for posting it!
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
5 Apr 09
Hi mentalward! I think it said it would still affect it within a certain period of time. The grapefruit is awesome in it's capabilities without the use of medications. Fatburner,cancer fighter,ani-oxidents..It is a great fruit. I was actually on a grapefruit diet just after my second child. Dropped that weight like crazy. Thanks for the response.
@zhuhuifen46 (3483)
• China
5 Apr 09
I am careful some foods cannot eat together, but I never realize the grapes and juice are affecting the medications. I will definitely study the article and be very careful when taking the medicines. Thanks for sharing the information.
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
5 Apr 09
It's grapefruit and grapefruit juice you need to study on. I don't know if grapes interract with medicines or not. It may not be a common fruit in your country..I'm not sure. It is very common here. It's easy to get the names confused because they are so similar.Thanks for the response and take care.
@psyche49f (2502)
• Philippines
4 Apr 09
Taht's good to know although I'm not a fan too of grapefruits...I'll check this out..just in case. Thanks.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
4 Apr 09
You should..I guess that some products also have grapefruit juice in them that can affect the medicines taken. Thanks for responding.
@Dasari100 (3791)
• Anantapur, India
9 Apr 09
I am really wonder to seeing you discussion so and i have seen that link which you have send for us so i came to know today lot things so have you ever eat more grapes.
@Dasari100 (3791)
• Anantapur, India
9 Apr 09
I am not taking any more medicine because i am always look like healty internally and externally so i love take more vegetable items and fruits. Have you taken any good fruits for your health.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
9 Apr 09
I'm glad you have taken the time to read it. The grapefruit is a very common fruit here and it is also good for you if you aren't taking medicine. Thanks for the response.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
9 Apr 09
Oh yes. I love fruits. I eat them everyday. I usually eat oranges,blueberries,and strawberries. That's everyday. Sometimes I have apples and grapes. After I had my second child I eat a grapefruit everyday because it has fat burning abilities. It worked pretty good. I could eat anything I wanted throughout the day as long as I eat a grapefruit in the morning.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
4 Apr 09
Yes, I have. I know medications for high cholesterol are definitely a no-no with grapefruit, and the msg is posted right on the bottle. I was taking meds for my high cholesterol for a couple of months but they started making me sick and psychotic, so I quit. Guess I can eat grapefruit now, LOL ...
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@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
4 Apr 09
LOL..guess you are in on the grapefruit. I think there is a warning on most medications but i do know that it also lowers some potency in medicines too. Like some birth controls. Thanks for responding.
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
5 Apr 09
I have heard that, not just about grapefruit, but other foods as well. I know you are not to take some pills with milk, etc. It is always good to look up or find out what you can and cannot have with certain meds and even supplements. There are websites where you can look it up just by doing a search.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
5 Apr 09
There are some medications, like certain antibiotics that warn not to take certain vitamins while taking the antibiotic, like potassium, magnesium and iron. It's odd how we often wind up looking up all the info about medications, when it should be the doctors who hand them out to us, right?
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
5 Apr 09
I shy from all meds, other than antibiotics, IF I REALLY need them, because changing diet and other behavior, in most cases, can take care of the things that they wanted to give me meds for. The drs. get frustrated with me, too!! LOL
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
5 Apr 09
Hi nanajanet! There are so many dangers when it comes to medicines. I always look up side effects and such if I have to take medicine. My doctor gets irritated with me because I do this and there have been times when I have refused certain medications because of this. Thanks for the response.
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
4 Apr 09
Hey Jen! Yes, I did know about grapefruit and it's interactions with certain kinds of medications! One of the medicines that I take has a warning on the label that I shouldn't eat any grapefruit or grapefruit product! I don't know if it's my cholesterol or blood pressure meds! It's one of them that I have been taking for years now. I happen to love grapefruits and grapefruit juice so I was always kind of annoyed about this and wondered what would really happen to me if I did eat something! Well, after reading this article and the one about the woman who almost lost her leg because she formed a bloodclot from a grapefruit diet I'm convinced that I just will have to live without grapefruits! At list I'll live!
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
4 Apr 09
Hi Opal! I'm glad you've resisted those grapefruits! I couldn't believe the side effects to a fruit and medicine could be so extreme! Thanks for responding and take care.
• India
8 Apr 09
Thanks for providing this useful suggestion . But I want to know why these fruits are dangerouss.
• India
9 Apr 09
Ok Dear. I go through the link . All information is good and well organised.
@hanah87 (1835)
• Malaysia
4 Apr 09
I do not know about this before.Thanks a lot for your info.
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
4 Apr 09
Your welcome hanah! It's a new one on me too.
@ying470 (60)
• China
4 Apr 09
Not very clear
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@sanuanu (11235)
• India
4 Apr 09
what is not clear? She is saying that grapefruit with certain medicines are dangerous to health. So, we need to visit the link and avoid using medicines while we plan to eat them!
@ElicBxn (63194)
• United States
4 Apr 09
my mother used to feed us grapefruit when I was a kid, and I ate them, until I reached an age where I said - "Why am I eating this? I don't like it, I have never liked it, I'm not going to eat them any more." So, I haven't, so it isn't a problem for me. But I did know they were bad when taken with many meds.
@ElicBxn (63194)
• United States
5 Apr 09
we didn't exactly eat them all the time, but when mom got them, she thought they were a treat
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
5 Apr 09
I would have hated to have had to eat them all the time. I eat them after the birth of my second child because of it's fat burning qualitites but other than that I don't eat them either. Thanks for the response.
1 person likes this
@dodo19 (47034)
• Beaconsfield, Quebec
5 Apr 09
That's very interesting. I had no idea that this was the case. It's something that is worth knowing, especially if you take medications.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
6 Apr 09
Hi dodo! It could be very important to someone taking medications..or for us that mey need them in the future. There are warning labels on most but not all of them. thanks for the response.
@kellyjeanne (1576)
• United States
7 Apr 09
Wow! Thanks for the heads up on this. I've never been much of a grapefruit fan, but, it's still good to know. I do love Ruby Red Grapefruit juice, though. I don't drink it all the time, but, when I do I hope I'm not hurting myself or putting myself in danger. Purrs, Catwoman=^..^= & Mija
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
7 Apr 09
Your ok as long as you don't take the medicines on that list. It is actually very good for you on a lot of different levels as long as it's not mixed with medicine.
@sanuanu (11235)
• India
4 Apr 09
If you keep on reading those articles then you can never live with peace because they will do survey on each and every aspect of life and make a negative point with every survey. Once a boy made a hole in a news paper using a niddle and said, "Mom! do you know with this tiny hole more than than one million bacteria can pass and you don't know how many of them can be dangerous!". Mom replied, "So, what do you expect me to do, I can't live with my mouth shut!". Son added, "Mom even if your mouth is shut bacteria can enter your mouth." The reply was, "If I open my mouth I will get hurt and if I close my mouth it is dangerous, then why not enjoy life without worrying these small sh*ts?" So, I don't give ears on these news! One day I heard that Tea is harmful to your health, I stopped taking tea. A month later, I read somehwere that Tea is good if you don't want to have cancer! Funny, isn't it?
@sanuanu (11235)
• India
4 Apr 09
and live without fear! Mention not!
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
4 Apr 09
Hi sanuanu! Nice story. It's tru we should live. Thanks for the response.
1 person likes this
@Hvaniday1 (550)
• Malaysia
7 Apr 09
That's very scary, I don't take grape fruit so lucky to stay away from the havoc.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
7 Apr 09
That's good but they are good for you if your not taking medicines. Take care.
• China
5 Apr 09
really?I like grapefruits very much but never thought that have such serious side effect.I think I should eat less from now on.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
5 Apr 09
I would just be careful if you are taking medicine. They are actually very good for you. Just research any medicine you are prescribed that it mixes ok with the grapefruit. Welcome to myLot and thanks for the response.