24 votes

From its name, to its hazy origins, to its drug interactions, grapefruit is one of the weirdest fruits on the planet

Posted by spit-evil-olive-tips
Tags: history, fruit, grapefruit, pharmacology, citrus, drugs, author.dan nosowitz, source.atlasobscura, long read
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/grapefruit-history-and-drug-interactions

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Title
Grapefruit Is One of the Weirdest Fruits on the Planet
Published
Oct 6 2020
Word count
3103 words

5 comments

  1. [3]
    RNG
    Link
    Is this a thing folks who take these medications are generally aware of? Avoiding Grapefruit?

    If you have a drug with 10 percent bioavailability, for example, the drugmakers, assuming you have intact cytochrome P450s, will prescribe you 10 times the amount of the drug you actually need, because so little will actually make it to your bloodstream. But in the presence of grapefruit, without those cytochrome P450s, you’re not getting 10 percent of that drug. You’re getting 100 percent. You’re overdosing.

    Here’s a brief and incomplete list of some of the medications that research indicates get screwed up by grapefruit:
    -Benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin, and Valium)
    -Amphetamines (Adderall and Ritalin)
    -Anti-anxiety SSRIs (Zoloft and Paxil)
    -Cholesterol-lowering statins (Lipitor and Crestor)
    -Erectile-dysfunction drugs (Cialis and Viagra)
    -Various over-the-counter meds (Tylenol, Allegra, and Prilosec)
    -And about a hundred others.

    Is this a thing folks who take these medications are generally aware of? Avoiding Grapefruit?

    7 votes
    1. Diff
      Link Parent
      I think the advice is generally given when those things are prescribed. My girlfriend was warned about grapefruit when her doc prescribed her meds to her.

      I think the advice is generally given when those things are prescribed. My girlfriend was warned about grapefruit when her doc prescribed her meds to her.

      6 votes
    2. scrambo
      Link Parent
      I have been told to stay away from it when on medication. I never got the details of why, so it sorta seemed like one of those fables where the reasoning was lost a time ago. Now I can see why...

      I have been told to stay away from it when on medication. I never got the details of why, so it sorta seemed like one of those fables where the reasoning was lost a time ago. Now I can see why they said it!

      4 votes
  2. Grzmot
    Link
    What an interesting article! The interaction of a random fruit like this is very interesting. The article only mentions regulations of the US and Canada, I wonder if it's different in Europe. The...

    What an interesting article!

    The interaction of a random fruit like this is very interesting. The article only mentions regulations of the US and Canada, I wonder if it's different in Europe. The wikipedia page for Grapefruit-drug interactions has a few citations from European journals about the subject, but I can't remember ever having seen (or heard) warnings on drugs (though I have seen few and taken even fewer).

    4 votes
  3. jerrod_haddox
    Link
    Thank you, that was an interesting article. I had to read the instructions of my medicine to find about the grapefruit, never heard from it before.

    Thank you, that was an interesting article.
    I had to read the instructions of my medicine to find about the grapefruit, never heard from it before.

    3 votes