Although having a grapefruit daily may help you shed a few pounds, studies now show that grapefruits can cause serious, life threatening side effects if mixed with certain drugs. According to a new study published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal these side effects are particularly risky for women, that take birth control pills, those who take anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills.
What’s causing these life threatening side effects? It’s called Furanocoumarins, in a grapefruit that deactivates an enzymes in the stomach and breaks down drugs, which can cause the amount of the drug in your blood to go up, says the study.
“Because the drug isn’t metabolized the way it normally would be, you end up with a greater potential for toxicity,” he says. So, for example, if you’re prescribed a specific dose of a blood pressure pill, that dose alone is meant to keep your blood pressure in check. “But if you take it along with grapefruit or grapefruit juice, you might get the equivalent of three, four, or even 10 more pills,” he says.
To find out if your grapefruit diet may cause any complications as your doctor if mixed with the drugs you are taking will give you a bad reaction. Check out this complete list of drugs that may give you bad side-effects when mixed with a grapefruit.
