{"id":774305,"date":"2026-07-20T18:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/774305\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T18:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:03:09","slug":"doctor-warns-that-a-healthy-summer-fruit-doesnt-mesh-with-medications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/774305\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor warns that a ‘healthy’ summer fruit doesn’t mesh with medications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid this summer\u2019s sweltering temperatures, many people are finding relief by sipping\u00a0fruity cocktails and smoothies\u00a0or drinking fruit juices.<\/p>\n

But a doctor is warning millions of people taking\u00a0common medications\u00a0such as statins and antidepressants that ingesting grapefruit \u2014 a common \u201chealthy\u201d ingredient<\/a> in many summer snacks and drinks \u2014 can have serious consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrapefruit is a pleasant snack for most, but it is important to disclose large amounts of grapefruit use to your doctor because it can interact with an array of medications<\/a>,\u201d Dr. Nicole James, a doctor based in Illinois, told news agency SWNS.<\/p>\n

Common cocktails that contain grapefruit include palomas, greyhounds, some margaritas and sea breezes.<\/p>\n

Many popular summer cocktails, including palomas and an occasional margarita, contain grapefruit. Doctors warn that the fruit \u201cblocks\u201d an enzyme that breaks down medications. Victoria Kondysenko \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

\u201cGrapefruit contains\u00a0natural compounds \u2014 primarily furanocoumarins and flavonoids. These inhibit an important enzyme called cytochrome P450 3A4,\u201d James said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This enzyme is referred to as CYP3A4.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It plays an important role in breaking down oral medications so that the body can properly process them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you ingest grapefruit, it blocks this enzyme,\u201d said James, who is also\u00a0a clinical research fellow\u00a0in the department of dermatology at Stanford University.<\/p>\n

Consuming grapefruit while taking medication can cause side effects like muscle breakdown and dizziness. Natalya Ugryumova \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

\u201cThis causes drugs that would normally be broken down in the gut wall to instead pass through intact, leading to significantly higher-than-intended blood levels of the medication,\u201d James added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having higher concentrations of a medication than normal can cause serious side effects.<\/p>\n

Drug concentrations in the blood can rise too fast and to dangerously high levels, Harvard Medical School also noted, as Fox News Digital previously reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients taking statins could experience higher levels than normal, which can cause muscle breakdown and cramps,\u201d James noted.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, patients taking certain\u00a0blood pressure medications\u00a0like amlodipine \u201cmay experience dizziness and low blood pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sedatives can also pose a risk, with medications like midazolam being impacted by grapefruit and causing \u201cextreme drowsiness and even slowed breathing,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Antidepressants like sertraline also come with a warning to avoid the fruit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For those who think it would take a lot of grapefruit to have an effect \u2014 James said this isn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs little as one grapefruit or 200 mL of juice can cause a clinically relevant increase in medication concentrations, and the effect can last up to 72 hours because grapefruit irreversibly inactivates CYP3A4 enzyme,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

People should keep an eye on\u00a0mixed fruit juices, smoothies and cocktails, as grapefruit juice is a common ingredient, she said.<\/p>\n

Doctors advise that people taking Warfarin should also keep an eye out for leafy vegetables and cranberry juice, which contain Vitamin K. bernardbodo \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

\u201cIf patients ingest a large amount of grapefruit while on these medications, they should\u00a0monitor for any symptoms\u00a0and avoid ingesting any more grapefruit,\u201d said James, advising people to always seek medical attention if there are any concerns.<\/p>\n

The doctor also warned about other ingredients that patients should be aware of \u2014 and reiterated that reaching out to healthcare professionals ahead of time is always a wise move.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among the ingredients to watch:<\/p>\n

Vitamin K-containing ingredients such as leafy green vegetables or\u00a0cranberry juice\u00a0should be carefully considered by those taking warfarin, which is commonly prescribed for reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke.<\/p>\n

Dairy-containing products can reduce the effectiveness of certain antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin and bisphosphanates (often taken for osteoporosis prevention).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amid this summer\u2019s sweltering temperatures, many people are finding relief by sipping\u00a0fruity cocktails and smoothies\u00a0or drinking fruit juices.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[79856,8111,97,252,253,32059],"class_list":["post-774305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-cocktails","tag-fruit","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-juice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}